(01-11-2024 12:41 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(01-11-2024 12:08 PM)Ourland Wrote:  I'm sure there are creative and meaningful ways to acknowledge the biggest donors of the past, even if a structure that was funded by their gift is torn down for whatever reason.

Sure.... but that's only part of the issue... and really a small part. I only spoke more about it because of my personal decision tree. It DOES impact the donation decision though.... I mean if you were asked to donate the same amount to have your name on a locker as you would to have your name on the whole locker room, which would YOU do? What if your name would be there for 5 years versus 10? The ability to offer 'more' recognition is often part of what gets people to write bigger checks. It's part of how you raise more money.

The bigger issue is that from time to time in our history there has been indecision about Rice's continuation of athletics... We can point to the fact that 'we're still here' and 'we're spending more' and sell that for certain, but it is hard to overcome the fact that there is absolutely nothing that means this will be the case in 5 or 10 or 20 years. Even my proposal doesn't ensure that because 'athletics' can be so broadly defined... and I'm only proposing that we cover tuition costs and upkeep of whatever facilities we have, which of course we would do anyway...

The conversation is simply different to say that 'we expect the university to continue to support athletics as they have for the past 112 years, despite the changing landscapes'.... vs 'reflecting our 112 year history of athletics at Rice, the university has made a perpetual commitment to continue that tradition.'

Okay I see. So, what you're proposing is an 'athletics endowment' similar to Stanford's, that guarantees the life of athletics at Rice as we know it? Trying to follow. If so, I think that has always been the goal, due to a lack of athletics-specific donations. Right? But if bylaws could be changed, to divert parts of the endowment, or parts of 'general' donations to the university into an athletics endowment, it would address this need. These funds would go toward scholarships and upkeep of infrastructure.