The University of Mississippi Athletics
STAFF BLOG: Ulmer On Challenges Of UMAA Foundation
4/9/2009 | Athletics
The Ole Miss athletics department's senior staff and leadership publish biweekly blogs on OleMissSports.com to offer fans added insight into the overall operation of the department. Jeff Ulmer is in his first year at Ole Miss as President of the UMAA Foundation.
April 10, 2009
When many Rebel fans think of the UMAA Foundation, they associate it with giving to get premium benefits. The fact is that the majority of our donors do give in order to maintain their seating priority, purchase tickets or to get that parking spot closest to The Grove or to the stadium. These benefits are, in fact, enticements to continue supporting all of our sports programs. But more importantly, gifts to the UMAA Foundation are investments in the literal sustenance and sustainability - the life- of all our varsity sports programs.
As you can imagine, operating a successful Division I, SEC athletics program is costly and a complex enterprise. And it's not just about wins and losses. Success in athletics competition relies on our ability to maintain success in the classroom, attracting and retaining the best coaches and student-athletes, providing the finest venues and sports facilities, upholding the highest standards of integrity among all of our student-athletes, coaches and sports programs, and ensuring that every student-athlete has the opportunity to earn a degree and to pursue their life dreams.
The administration continues to invest heavily in the academic success of each of our student-athletes with the help of FedEx and their generous investment in our new academic center. The countless hours and resources that are invested in their success is already paying huge dividends with over 100 of our student-athletes currently maintaining GPAs of 3.0 or better. The athletics department writes a check for more than $4 million each year to cover the cost of tuition, room and board for our student-athletes, and costs continue to rise with each passing year. Simply put, the need to increase private resources for the completion of our basketball practice facility, baseball stadium expansion and to endow scholarships is critical.
In challenging economic times, we all have to be much more prudent with our discretionary dollars. Most of us will be inclined to hold back and to play it safe when it comes to our charitable giving, at least for now. But I want to assure you that the administration and UMAA Foundation staff are being just as prudent with your investment dollars. We understand our fiduciary responsibility to be the best stewards of those resources that we can be. So before you send your gift to the UMAA Foundation this year, remember that Ole Miss survived two World Wars, the Great Depression, numerous recessions and 9/11. But during those challenging times, someone invested so that we could continue to enjoy the rich traditions that make Ole Miss the most unique institution of higher learning in the world. Let's forge ahead and work to ensure that those traditions continue for the next generation of Rebels. After all, our best years are ahead!