The school as a whole has been poorly run for years and the athletic programs have suffered. The underling problem is leadership from top to bottom at the university. Having heard the Alumni meetings with the powers that be it has become clear that they have no idea what direction they want for USM. A few years ago Bennett decided that we as a university should target first generation college students and minority students more aggressively. I have no problem with that and feel like it is a niche that USM should go after. However given our limited resources what followed was the pursuit of all other students declined. The argument has been made by many that the admission scores ie ACT, GPA have risen during this period by 1-2 pts on the act and a few pts on the GPA. This is true as well but the average ACT score across the country increased by 2-3 pts so take that how you want. Also first generation college students are less likely to graduate and immediately contribute back to the university. The lack of pursuing second, third, fourth generation students is hurting the University. My son recently graduated from USM as did his wife. They are both third generation USM students with both families having countless USM graduates. Unfortunately they will probably be the last of their families to attend USM. The school has changed from what it once was the experience isn't on par with dare i say MSU, Ole Miss and students are choosing them over USM. I love this University and will always support it and complain about it as well. When i went to my son's graduation in May i was absolutely embarrassed at the poorly ran ceremony his high school graduation was better planned and put together. USM looks and feels like poor school and shows in every aspect of the school from academics to athletics. We can complain about Hopson and how bad he is and how we don't have money for anything but this is a systematic problem that starts with a poor leader.