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

(09-27-2017 10:18 AM)jumpshooter Wrote:  

(09-27-2017 10:01 AM)bit_9 Wrote:  I think that's what you get with a urban setting. It's night and day when literally when only thing to do is go to a bar, house party or sporting event is available to you.

Posted from mobile device. Hopefully it's coherent.

I don't subscribe to that theory at all. VCU doesn't have that issue. Schools like Georgetown and Marquette have students travel downtown to see games. I'm sure there are dozens of others. I'm always mystified about what "wrong" with ODU students and their overall lack of enthusiasm for their school's athletic events. It ain't all the administration's fault, either. ODU is lucky to have the old guard who give money to the school, go to the games, support the program in other ways. Yeah, we're not as crazy as the students, but there wouldn't be an athletic program -- not D-1 -- without us/them.

If the current academic and admissions trends continue...ODAF and donations to the University are in for a world of hurt. I saw it beginning 5 years ago and the move to CUSA bumped things up a little, but that is wearing off. Frankly, I think I could donate significantly less and get tickets from stub hub and save thousands of $.

(09-27-2017 11:46 AM)Mr.BigBlue Wrote:  

(09-27-2017 10:18 AM)jumpshooter Wrote:  

(09-27-2017 10:01 AM)bit_9 Wrote:  I think that's what you get with a urban setting. It's night and day when literally when only thing to do is go to a bar, house party or sporting event is available to you.

Posted from mobile device. Hopefully it's coherent.

I don't subscribe to that theory at all. VCU doesn't have that issue. Schools like Georgetown and Marquette have students travel downtown to see games. I'm sure there are dozens of others. I'm always mystified about what "wrong" with ODU students and their overall lack of enthusiasm for their school's athletic events. It ain't all the administration's fault, either. ODU is lucky to have the old guard who give money to the school, go to the games, support the program in other ways. Yeah, we're not as crazy as the students, but there wouldn't be an athletic program -- not D-1 -- without us/them.

If the current academic and admissions trends continue...ODAF and donations to the University are in for a world of hurt. I saw it beginning 5 years ago and the move to CUSA bumped things up a little, but that is wearing off. Frankly, I think I could donate significantly less and get tickets from stub hub and save thousands of $.

This worries me too. The alumni from 20+ years ago are carrying ODAF right now. Are we brining in the type of student that will cary about school and be active on campus and support athletics? We need them, and we need them to be successful after graduation so they can give back and support the program too. If the state of Va demands that sport programs be funded in large part by donations, ODU needs to be getting students excited about athletics, so they can support it later. Us diehards from the old guard aren't going to be around forever. Then what happens?

(09-27-2017 12:21 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  Just wanted to point out the old guard is more suited to donate. No way i was donating immediately after college. Couldnt afford it.

Here is the biggest issue. ODU has moved towards much more diversity with very little increase in state revenue. We have virtually been told to stay affordable so more students can attend. Yet enrollment is declining. Therefore the administration is relying more and more on donations. Hence the $200m fundraising campaign. In addition, we got cut last year while those Universities that have virtually no minorities are getting +100% of their base funding. This crushes our opportunity to grow. If you want evidence .... Look at the status of most HBCU's and MSI's. They are struggling to make ends meet, NONE are in the better conferences of the G5, and none are in the P5.

(09-27-2017 02:22 PM)Mr.BigBlue Wrote:  

(09-27-2017 12:21 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  Just wanted to point out the old guard is more suited to donate. No way i was donating immediately after college. Couldnt afford it.

Here is the biggest issue. ODU has moved towards much more diversity with very little increase in state revenue. We have virtually been told to stay affordable so more students can attend. Yet enrollment is declining.

FWIW, they expected enrollment to decline, which is why they cut the athletic budget. But enrollment actually stayed flat. Not good but it didn't decline like they forecasted during budget.

Here is the actual quote from the article;

Quote:Officials say they now anticipate enrollment won’t decline over last year.

http://pilotonline.com/sports/college/ol...c0fc6.html

ODU needs to stop promoting this diversity crap and get the best students no matter if they are black, white, green or purple. ODU should be pushing academic excellence

To play devils advocate, how fair is that to kids that haven't grown up with white privilege? I really don't have much issue with the promotion of diversity. It aint like we are Harvard or ever will be.

Uh oh. Time to shut this thread down.

(09-27-2017 02:46 PM)Monarchblue Wrote:  Uh oh. Time to shut this thread down.

Why?

I just dont understand letting kids in that have no chance of graduating, in the name of diversity. Life is not fair, if you get a 2.7 GPA in high school you don't get to go to college, sorry. Life is not fair, and its a mistake to tell kids it is.

Where do you get that kids have no chance of graduating? FWIW, I had something like a 2.5 GPA in high school (just enough to play sports), close to 3.0 at undergrad, and 3.9 in graduate school (at a top 25 University).

Undergrad at ODU aint rocket science if you just try a little (which I didn't).

(09-27-2017 03:49 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  Where do you get that kids have no chance of graduating? FWIW, I had something like a 2.5 GPA in high school (just enough to play sports), close to 3.0 at undergrad, and 3.9 in graduate school (at a top 25 University).

Undergrad at ODU aint rocket science if you just try a little (which I didn't).

Are you serious? ODU has one of the worst 4 year, 5 year and 6 year graduation rates in the state. Its pathetic. But its OK because we are diverse. Its the biggest load of crap ever. Here is the data to back up my claim.

http://www.collegeresults.org/collegepro...nid=232982

(09-27-2017 02:35 PM)cmett003 Wrote:  ODU needs to stop promoting this diversity crap and get the best students no matter if they are black, white, green or purple. ODU should be pushing academic excellence

Bingo...we have a winner !

(09-27-2017 04:12 PM)cmett003 Wrote:  

(09-27-2017 03:49 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  Where do you get that kids have no chance of graduating? FWIW, I had something like a 2.5 GPA in high school (just enough to play sports), close to 3.0 at undergrad, and 3.9 in graduate school (at a top 25 University).

Undergrad at ODU aint rocket science if you just try a little (which I didn't).

Are you serious? ODU has one of the worst 4 year, 5 year and 6 year graduation rates in the state. Its pathetic. But its OK because we are diverse. Its the biggest load of crap ever. Here is the data to back up my claim.

http://www.collegeresults.org/collegepro...nid=232982

What is it that you expect from an urban, public university? Did you not know this when you chose to attend? "Hey, they let me in, but lets not let others in."

I will add that the transfer rates speaks volumes as well. It proves to me that the students we are admitting do not want to be there.

37% of all college students transfer at least once.

We have a large population of non traditional students, many are military and many working as they go to school partime. Over 25% of our students have direct ties to the military, either enlisted or children of our fine folks serving. We know that their situation changes with deployments and transfers. At my place of employment, we were very strong at letting workers continue their education while continuing to work. Matter of fact we would pay for tuition and books. Couple guys working in my group got engineering and advance degrees from ODU. I took satisfaction in helping them and helping ODU with some great students. This is our mission as an urban school near the world's largest Navy base.

(09-27-2017 02:44 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  To play devils advocate, how fair is that to kids that haven't grown up with white privilege? I really don't have much issue with the promotion of diversity. It aint like we are Harvard or ever will be.

This is actually where my line of thinking is. I don't know any of you in person, but I have my doubts that any of you know what it's like to grow up disadvantaged from the beginning. It's easy to point to others less fortunate than you and simply say "work harder, get better grades, it's your own fault that you cannot get into college" when there's a lot more circumstances than that and it's really not that simple. It's easy to say that when you have had privilege whether you acknowledge that privilege or not - but it's definitely there. You don't know what it's like until you live through it and I don't think the people that have lived through it are on message boards talking about how diversity is killing our school.

(09-27-2017 04:31 PM)ODUCoach Wrote:  37% of all college students transfer at least once.

I did (for work-related reasons), and I know plenty of people who for one reason or another did.

I understand wanting to burnish the school's academic reputation, but at some point does that run at cross purposes with its broader mission? Not every school can be Harvard or Stanford or Virginia, but more to the point, not every school should be. Does the pursuit of more-qualified students come at the expense of providing an academic home for others who can still be taught and nurtured? Schools like ODU, VCU and George Mason have, among their goals, enriching the community by way of educating their high school graduates. I wonder at what point they lose that vision with the pursuit of smarter, faster, better.

(09-27-2017 04:16 PM)Mr.BigBlue Wrote:  

(09-27-2017 02:35 PM)cmett003 Wrote:  ODU needs to stop promoting this diversity crap and get the best students no matter if they are black, white, green or purple. ODU should be pushing academic excellence

Bingo...we have a winner !

The four year graduation rate that cmett posted is garbage. That number is not because of diversity.