At this point I’d assume just about every living person who’s ever cut a check to Tribe Athletics has heard about the petition. You either saw it on social media, saw it while browsing this board, saw it in the Flat Hat, or heard about it from someone at a tailgate who did. It’s no longer a private issue that can be “handled internally.”

But all it would take is a press release on the website or an email to the donor list apologizing for the confusion and clarifying the situation.

As far as I can tell it’s been a week and there has been no official public response to the student-athlete’s petition. From a donor relations standpoint, this lack of communication is now its own problem independent of the original issue regarding scholarships.