IN APRIL 2001, a task force convened as part of the Virginia 2020 initiative recommended that each varsity sport be assigned to one of four tiers, based primarily on their revenue production and competitive track record, in order to better allocate funding among them. Teams in the first and second tiers were to receive the lion's share of the money in hopes that they might compete for national championships. Sports in the third tier were to receive moderate support, while those in the fourth tier, including baseball, wrestling and other worthy but unglamorous sports, were to be cut off almost completely, receiving only need-based financial aid, along with limited travel opportunities and minimal coaching staff.
The objective was to raise the national profile of the University, leveraging the athletic budget into national renown by designating certain teams to compete on the national stage and leaving others to rot. Nevermind that the tier-four teams, which have been a source of scholarships, recreation and character education for a vast number of students, might have collapsed after a few years of official neglect. As task force chairwoman Carolyn Callahan told The Cavalier Daily at the time, the worst option would be to "have all sports and, given the money that is available, have all of them play at a mediocre level."
The plan was withdrawn in the face of bitter criticism from students, coaches and alumni alike, but its spirit lives on in a new effort by the administration to give fundraiser Bob Sweeney a home on the Lawn. A policy change recently effected by the Board of Visitors would allow Sweeney to be considered for Pavilion VI, and recent statements by President Casteen and Alexander Gilliam, the chairman of the Board's Pavilion Selection Committee, suggest that such consideration may be underway.
Sweeney would presumably put his new home to good use, hosting dinners and cocktail parties for the big money donors who will be asked to fork over $3 billion in the course of the University's ambitious new Capital Campaign. At a time when the legislature makes miserly contributions to the budget and the University is forced to rely on the generosity of private parties, the necessity of such events is beyond dispute. But the Lawn was designed to foster community among students and faculty, and if the Board of Visitors were to blithely grant a pavilion to a person whose job involves no interaction with students, one might ask why we raise these billions in the first place.
Ever since the University raised its sights beyond the South, its administrators have suffered from an occasional tendency to trample its unique virtues in pursuit of national prominence. We want to raise as much money as the elite private schools of the Northeast while competing athletically with the big state schools of the Midwest, in hopes, presumably, of attracting better students and more distinguished faculty and boosting our U.S. News & World Report ranking ever higher. But it is not some abstract notion of standing or prestige that makes the University special and it is grossly misguided to regard things like the Lawn or the athletic programs as mere means to such an end. To kill off underperforming teams while giving pavilions to fundraisers might seem strategic to a gimlet eyed administrator seeking continual improvement in our national stature. But an incremental gain in stature does not justify the sacrifice of traditions and activities that make a tangible contribution to the richness of University life.
Since Sweeney cannot defend himself without being seen to lobby for a Lawn residence, I will note that he is, by most accounts, a highly successful fundraiser with a genuine interest in the future of the University. It would be a shame if the current controversy soured Sweeney on his job, much as Jack Meyer was hounded from his position as CEO of Harvard Management Company by students and alumni critical of his pay, despite having grown the Harvard endowment from $5 billion to $25 billion in 15 years on the job. But by Jeffersonian intent and longstanding tradition, the Lawn is not for fundraisers but for the students and faculty whose academic interaction is the fundamental purpose of the University. Fundraising is important indeed, but it would be ironic if in the course of preserving the University, we undermined the very things that make it worth preserving.
Alec Solotorovsky's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at asolotorovsky@cavalierdaily.com.
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