The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Allen Moff of the Record-Courier authored a three-part, in-depth article concerning the first year of the AD, Randale Richmond. Overall, some very good accomplishments. But I was a disappointed (but not surprised) with the absolute lack of mention of alumni & Varsity K (of which I am not a member). There is no mention of alumni or Varsity K in the three articles. And the following quoted paragraph only emphasizes the apparent lack of forethought for including alumni in future planning.

From the third article...

Fundraising remains a critical and challenging component to the success of Kent State athletics. Where are you with fundraising after year one compared to where you expected to be?
Richmond: “It is a challenge, but I feel great about the irons we have in the fire. It’s all about the hustle and the grind, just getting in front of people and trying to align their passions with our purpose. The university support that we’re getting right now, resources to be able to be successful in this space in terms of the structure, in terms of athletics being part of the campaign — we weren’t part of the campaign before — with [Associate Vice President, Communications and Outreach] Leigh Greenfelder and [Vice President, Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement and CEO, KSU Foundation] Valoree Vargo over there and [Associate Athletic Director for Athletic Advancement] Maggie McKendry so connected. I feel great about that, feel great about our approach. Now, fundraising is going to be a challenge. There’s no blueprint for it. We can’t bemoan that. We’ve just got to hit it with as much as we can, so we can look back and say we did everything we could in this space to have success."

First time I ever heard that KSU has a VP of Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement. Would be nice to receive an email from VP Greenfelder since I am engaged alumni.

Having no blueprint for fundraising is pretty telling.

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