The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

I think a big part of ODU's academic reputation has followed our doing what the state has asked. This university has been one of the few that has focused on taking more in-state students and holding overall fees downward when many others sought tuition increases over the years. Now our education is seen as one of the cheapest and the same state that we were appeasing in the past talks to all of us the same. To me, ODU should be rewarded for what it has tried to do by allowing it to at least get to a level that is level with its peers in Virginia. Instead they focus so much on the fact that we started football, we are hamstrung on raising fees to baseline. It's the state's way of saying "thank you for not getting your fees up when you could have". And our attempt to build a stadium using the same enthusiasm as JMU did about 5 years ago is drawing the exact same thank you from the state. It's the classic example of treating all with the same broad brush when all haven't handled its business in the same fashion.

I'm fine with not charging distance learners an athletic fee. That makes sense. But for the state to not allow ODU to move to baseline with its on campus student fees is disingenuous and also unfair. All this righteousness about the cost of education only came to a head when ODU started talking about building its FBS stadium on the water. While JMU got to build a half a FBS-sized stadium with an eternal FCS program. Same state regulators. Nuts.