My Conversation with Chancellor Gene Block
by uclaike on Nov 2, 2011 9:12 PM PDT
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PrintBumped. A must read post giving us a disconcerting look at the mindset of Chancellor Gene Block who displays lack of awareness and understanding concerning the state urgency to re-establish his imploding football program. - BN Eds.
Just got back from the "UCLA on the Road" event with Chancellor Block; pretty nice affair with a pretty packed house. I'll give the UCLA Alumni Association credit for knowing how to put its best foot forward. I came away feeling pretty good about the university. The football team? Well, here goes:
The Chancellor's spoke at length about his three themes for UCLA: (1) Thriving, (2) Transformational, and (3) Inspirational. If you were internally LOL'ing about how this was the exact opposite of our football program, well, let's just say I was thinking exactly the same thing.
Act I
During the broad Q&A, I (thought I) was chosen to ask a question but apparently the guy next to me decided it was him and jumped right in. Fortunately, it was related to football. Unfortunately, he took the tactless (IMO) route of asking if we were going to fire Neuheisel. The Chancellor was obviously not interested in answering an uncomfortable question so provided his expected "Hey, did anyone watch the Cal game?", after which the crowd all supportively clapped and cheered. End of answer. FAIL.
Act II
After that disaster, I decided I wasn't going to be a salmon swimming upstream asking football questions to a room of people who were hooting and hollering a victory over a mediocre Cal team, and thought best to wait until the end of the program to approach the Chancellor privately. So after we finished hearing a lot of sunshine talk about how we should proudly display our UCLA pride and did an 8-Clap, I made a beeline for Mr. Block. The play by play (at least as best as I can remember) and my two pennies on it are after the jump.
Me: "Chancellor Block, I did not want to put you on the spot with another football question during the program, but I would be remiss if I didn't ask you about it now. Can you speak to your administration's view towards our football program"
CB: "All of our athletic programs are important, football is one of them, but it's one of many important parts of our university"
Me: "I agree, I don't mean to appear shallow and I am glad we're doing a lot of important things at UCLA, but as our most publicly facing institution, are we as committed to the program as we need to be? I am not talking specifically about our coach, but more broadly about our financial commitment"
CB: "Let's keep this in context, I would say our Medical program is our most publicly facing institution, and yes, we are committed to our football program as we are to all of our programs. We want it to succeed. Who says we don't care about Football."
And that was that. I could tell he was not very interested in continuing a dialogue, didn't seem very happy with me, and wanted to turn his attention to some other alumni, so I thanked him for his time and walked away. Sorry I couldn't be more hard-hitting, Woodward and Bernstein-style, on him, but as a guy with a non-journalist background, I tried to do my best.
My Two Pennies:
I came away with a confirmed view that the Chancellor is a nice guy, committed to the betterment of our university, but relatively uninterested in our athletic program. He probably feels it's important to put football in perspective of other athletics and the university as a whole (and perhaps I don't have the best appreciation for everything on his plate), but I think he is still undervaluing the importance of a strong football program to drumming up school pride, interest, and yes, donations.
I get it; our school is a sum of many different parts, but I think there was a cognitive dissonance with respect to drumming up interest in the university, while pretty much ignoring the importance of our most public-facing institution in doing so.
My verdict is Dan Guerrero is going nowhere unless he brings shame / embarrassment (not the 59-0 or 48-12 kind) to the school.
Other items of note (because I'm not that one dimensional, and hopefully you all aren't either):
- The school received the most applications of any university in the nation last year
- For the first time in its history, UCLA undergrads contributed more to their tuitions than the state
- The state still provides a contribution equivalent to a $6B endowment, so by no means is the school on its way to full privatization
- International/out-of-state undergrads are currently 18% (highest ever) of the freshman class, and Block expects that number to stabilize at that rate (by comparison, Virginia is 30% and Michigan is 40% out of state)
- An undergraduate business major is being heavily discussed, and a high priority among students (and personally is meaningful to me; as an MBA I wish we leveraged Anderson more for our undergraduates)
Go Bruins.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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He doesn't get it
Of course the Medical program is the face of the university, but that’s on the academic side. That’s miixing apples and oranges. Yes, football should take a backseat to our awesome medical program. But it is the face of the athletic program and it is nowhere close to other comparable programs. I can’t believe that moron asked that question. Didn’t I say it would be tacky? Idiot.
Curious, is the $6bn endowment for all UCs or just UCLA?
Nice work, I’m glad it was a nice event at least.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
UCLA's endowment is only 1.8 billion
Berkeley is maybe around 2.6 billion.
In comparison, UCSD is only half a billion. Davis is probably just a smidge over half a billion.
insightful and revealing
thanks very much uclaike. While Block may not be showing his hand, a comment like “Hey, did anyone watch the Cal game?” is blatant denial mentality.
“Yes, we are committed to our football program as we are to all of our programs. We want it to succeed. Who says we don’t care about Football.” is also a denial tactic. Pretending not to see the frustration of and legitimate questions raised by the UCLA sports fans? What are Block’s definitions of “committed” and “success” for the football program; Ivy League level play?
$6B...
… my understanding was it was for UCLA only. Also, I had a typo in my post, I meant to say “appreciation for everything on his plate”, not “flight”… I don’t even know how I did that?!?
You can always edit your post
using the icon to the right of the title. I made the change for you.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Privatize The Great UCLA
Please BN tell me that this was never a serious idea. UCLA is the California face of a great public university, and yes CAL too. By the way who owns the land this great public university sits upon? Yes, state funding needs to be increased and tuition is obscene, and K-12 is also in need of more funding. Public schools our fundamental to the notion of a democratic society. Go UCLA the greatest public university in the world!
State funding
will never be increased again. It’s pretty much gone forever and it will continue to go down. Any UC funding will be directed with discrimination to the smaller UCs that don’t benefit from the endowment and fundraising capabilities of UCLA and Cal. Read up on the Michigan model, which may well be where we’re headed.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
We need a renewed commitment
to financing public schools in Calfornia. This state has always been a leader in public education and the great UCLA faculty produced some of the greatest minds in the world.
I appreciate your heads up on the Michigan Model (canary in the mine) I will spend some more time churning this in my depleted brain. If UCLA became a private school it would be like the L.A. Rams moving to Anaheim, it would be like the McCourts buying the Dodgers, it would be like becoming a westside version of suc. No No a thousand times NO!
I have a home in the desert and two years ago our neighborhood taxed ourselves to keep the local park open. it is a local family retreat and it bring us much joy to see the families enjoying picnics and playing ball with their kids. That is how I see the GREAT UCLA, a local Public University that welcomes all to its herioc arms.
Watching Jerry Rice Sr. and his family enjoying their son, a walk on, playing on the great RoseBowl gridiron, an outstanding young man living life to its fullest on campus and on the field. Tyler Gonzalez what a story and another in a long line of great accomplishments by GUTTY LITTLE BRUINS. It would send me to an early grave, along with my crew, to see UCLA privatized.
Our commitment to financing public schools in california
Is the chief reason this state is in the crater and there isn’t that much left to finance public schools in California.
THE chief reason?
Yours is an awfully broad statement . . . there is a state mandate for percentage of spending on education, but state spending mandates have been repeatedly suspended over the last several years, and the K-12 schools that are not “basic aid” based (think coastal, affluent districts with solid property values) have seen significant downshifts in funding per student over the last decade-plus. There’s a whole lot of reasons why the state is in the economic dumper . . .
The Mad Bruin
Uhh
I think you need to hold on here and step away from making such a blanket, ridiculous statement. There are other forums if you want to have this debate. Not here.
and we're still trying to figure out
who the third tenor is…
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Alas, no
I remember vividly “Call Richmond 9-5171. Call direct or call collect, but call right now. Richmond 9-5171.” My dad watched wrestling from the Olympic every Wednesday night for longer than I can remember. I called once and won free tickets and my dad had to take me. The biggest surprise was that the guys weren’t all wearing gray tights.
Ah, the Olympic Auditorium
I’d go with fraternity brothers to take it in. It was great spectacle.
sjh
UCLA doesn't need state funding
and should rid itself of those shackles. Why should the fortune of our great university be tied to the machinations and buffoonery of politicians who keep finding new ways of ruining the state’s finances? Every time they screw up, the first victim is funding for education. No thank you.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
The State's concept of funding is much like that of Greece.
I do not intend to start a debate about which programs “should” be funded with public money, or “deserve” to be funded, etc. It seems to me to be well beyond debate that if there is a particular program which is near and dear to your heart, you should do whatever needs to be done to make it independent of public funding. No one knows when a legislature with a different philosophy is going to take over and say that your favorite program is no longer going to get as much funding. There are plenty of examples of this, and none more near and dear to me than the collapse of funding toward the Queen of the Arts.
Which is a longer version of saying that I agree with Tasser.
How About a BN Poll?
I would put up a poll but I don’t know how to do it on BN. If you one of you guys could please put the poll up: Should UCLA be Privatized? Yes or No. I would find it interesting to see how BN members respond.
I don't think so...
… I think the real reason privatization was brought up was in the context of drumming up increased alumni support (read: donations) to support the institution; Block did maintain that our mission was still educate California students, and as such, we wouldn’t approach the out-of-state levels that UM or even Virginia have
I'm starting to breathe again
And just put away the Xanax for now. I’ll save it for the asu game. Go Bruins!
Ike:
Thanks for representing us with tact. I think you made your point. You weren’t going to get much more out of him in a venue such as that. “Who says we don’t care about football?” That obviously means he is hearing the rumblings going on.
BTW: I love the term “cognitive dissonance.” I’m going to try to work that into my next conversation.
"Make each day your masterpiece."--JRW
ike, where did you do your MBA?
I’m in my first quarter at Anderson right now, and I’m getting mauled!
Columbia Business School...
… first year can be a whirlwind but you’ll get the hang of it soon enough.
It gets way easier after the first quarter
I’m class of ‘07. It’s tough taking 5 classes in your first quarter (they still make you do that, right?). If you’re lucky, you’ll get DeFig for strategy in the Spring. That guy pretty much shaped the way I think today.
Also, make sure you go to C4C weekend up at Stanford. Most fun you’ll have in b-school.
Does Anderson
have a rugby team? What about a ski team or soccer team?
Every year there is a global MBA rugby tournament at Duke, a soccer tournament ( can’t remember where) and a ski competition at Dartmouth. All those are awesome, especially rugby. Literally played against bad asses from Australia and England, France, Ireland…and, uh, participated in various festivities…
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
When I was there they definitely had a soccer team. There’s a big MBA tournament in Austin that they went to. Anderson also hosted one during my 2nd year. I don’t think they had rugby or ski teams when I was there, although there’s a pretty active ski/snowboard club.
We used to kick the undergrads’ asses in IM football. I played on a team that had an All-Ivy League linebacker, a guy who played DB at Cornell, and a guy who was a walk-on TE on Miami’s 2002 National Championship team.
Well that's just not fair
but my rugby team had ringers from Australia and Argentina too :)
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Thank you for this, uclaike
I appreciate you taking the time to attend this event and to approach with the Chancellor in a respectful manner.
I am discouraged, though not surprised at his response. It appears he is what we feared, fairly disinterested in athletics and actually irritated by those who consider them important. Unfortunately, the manner in which the person next to you asked his question only reinforces his bias.
But to say that the Med Ctr is our most public institution is wrong. Our most important? Yes. But most public? Not close. Next time there are multiple cable channels that cover every schools medical centers on Saturdays, and when 50-100K people pay money to fill up their colleges’ auditoriums on a weekend, I’ll be sure to admit my mistake.
greg in denver, U.C.L.A. guy for life - BruinsNation.com
by gbruin on Nov 2, 2011 10:35 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
You gotta LOL at the Neubs (new term)
Going nuts and doing 8 claps over a meaningless win against an average Cal team.
by Nestor on Nov 3, 2011 5:36 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
He is an elitist, obviously.
And condescending to boot. Fine for the jerk and his idiotic question, but not for you who tactfully took him aside and asked simple open ended questions as to his opinions.
Btw, your open ended questions were perfect. That’s how you get to know what another person is thinking, not with loaded, gotcha questions.
You did it and found out from him in his own words his true attitude about football. It is beneath him so much he really finds it awkward to even discuss. It is not worthy of his time or consideration even with you, a loyal, respectful supporter of UCLA asking him softball questions in private.
A very revealing post. Great job.
With his attitude we may very well be headed for the Ivy League. DG is snug as a bug with this myopic, intellectual snob as his boss.
Sad.
Great post & very revealing
At least now we have hard confirmation that Block will not do anything with regards to DG & CRN. Disappointing.
This is the exact reaction
I got from Al Carnesale when I asked him similar questions at a DC reception in 2002. I came away disgusted.
by Nestor on Nov 3, 2011 5:00 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
Rec'd
Great job by uclaike, and this is something everyone needs to see.
greg in denver, U.C.L.A. guy for life - BruinsNation.com
Geez, it kinda makes you miss ole Chuckie Young
The guy used to pace the sidelines during UCLA games . . . whats the chance Bloch-head would ever do that?
Actually he seems to be on the sidelines for all the basketball games.
I also sat near him in San Antonio (final 4) and he seemed quite into it. I’m too far away from the football field to see if he is there. But basketball games…yes he is always there.
Go Bruins!
Well, he would have good reasons to go to a basketball game.
1) We have some measure of success in Basketball, therefore the outcome is likelier to be a win, and he won’t be embarrassed by our performance on the court.
2) Games are played on campus, so he won’t have to drive 30 miles to get to a game.
I just wish he would realize that by actively participating in the success of our program, he could make both reasons true of Football.
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
Chancellor Block and priorities
To say that football fits in with women’s volleyball, swimming, etc. is the worst kind of prioritization in terms of the athletic department mix of sports. Until someone tells this guy that without a successful and competitive and winning football program, his axx is out the door, little may be done. The old formula of special admits, more majors, more $$ for coaches, are all important. Plus, most important, an AD that recognizes and acts as if football is the most important program under his/her responsibility set.
Those of us who have been involved in one way or another for decades (my 5th) with UCLA, this continual fight against the arrogance and indifference toward football and other items in the athletic department (like a competent AD), end up with the ultimate in frustration. I do remember years ago a Stanford alum friend told me the university, including the President of Stanford (I believe that is what that position is called), had an internal meeting and decided that football was important and that Stanford was going to have good teams. Presto, with support from the top, look at the results.
As Randy Cross said, “Administration, decide what you want”. When Block heard that comment, I believe he might have said, “I’ll take another wing at the hospital”……Tonedeaf…
Mensgym
Medical Program's Public Face...
These are the places I see/hear about our medical program:
- Ads on the back of Metro buses that say "See U around the neighborhood’. They’re right next to the signs that say “In an accident? Need a lawyer? Call 888-8585”
- Someone famous is having health issues and gets take to UCLA for treatment.
By comparison I see ads for U$C’s new hospital on billboards, they sponsor NPR programs, and in the 4th inning at Dodger games on the electric banner (this one kills me).
If the Medical Program is our public face, let’s at least win the PR battle here in Los Angeles.
Great Observation
I hate seeing those $C hospital adds all over Dodger Stadium. They’ve even sponsored rally towel giveaways at dodger stadium. I had to cut the logo off the corner of my rally towel, lol.
The only things that elitist bureaucrats understand are
money and poor publicity…The status quo and apathy are their lifeblood. Therefore, it is essential that negative publicity(at least in their eyes such as petitions, media negativity) are essential as well as declining revenues or the threat of declining revenues. Nevertheless, while I think RN will be gone, I agree that the inertia of the current administration (as with past administrations) will protect DG until DG chooses to leave…if ever…
Clueless
I guess when individuals pick a university, it’s all about academics. And of course, every student at UCLA is a med major. Forget the whole “college experience” thingy. I guess nobody considers this when picking a school.
by BlueReign on Nov 3, 2011 9:22 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Except that
UCLA remains the most applied to school in the country. This has been the case for the past few years, I believe. So this gives the Chancellor some cover. The continued mediocrity of the football program has not seemed to deter the applicants. How they feel once they get here may be a different story.
"Make each day your masterpiece."--JRW
by Give me a B... on Nov 3, 2011 4:46 PM PDT up reply actions
Better football
equals more donations, more school spirit, etc.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Gene Block's alma mater
Block did his Ph.D. at Oregon. Does he think that Oregon is in the news these days because they have an awesome hospital?
So very true.
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
The ironic thing was...
(and I am sorry I didn’t include in my original post)
One alumni brought up the issue of school pride, and specifically noted how her friends at USC had more than her peers at UCLA. The Chancellor admitted that this was true and that we were looking to close the gap by trying to make people understand they were Bruins for life, particularly in the context of the decreased support we will be getting from the state going forward.
I wished at the time I could have handed him a printout of the cogent arguments that have been made on this site about how football (whether you love it or not) can foster that goodwill and pride among alumni to generate giving, etc, etc.
So sad
to hear the obvious lack of support at the top. All of you guys are right. Hopefully our efforts will at least get his attention. Perhaps we need to send him a financial and marketing analysis of how football can affect the university. I’m not equipped but I’m sure somebody here is.
Worse comes to worse, Dan G decides he doesn’t like all the negative attention he’s getting and starts to make the right decisions himself by using some of our new money to get a good coaching staff. It’s not hard. He simply needs to make a decision.
Great Interview...with sad results.
Mediocrity is institutionalized….and accountability is marginalized. I can see the scene now…cut to the Chancellor office. In walks his loyal toady Nelson…
"Chancellor Block…I was reading in the paper today that the football team…sir…the football team…"
"spit it out Nelson…the football team what!?" Sips his coffee and flips to the next page in the daily racing form.
"…well sir, it..it’s not very good and the newspaper suggested it…it might be the coaching…"
"Err…(mumble mumble…) well, yes, that is a…a…a problem…hummm. Listen here Nelson, I gotta’ get over to the Medical Center for my Friday high-colonic…remind me next week to give the ‘ol athletic director a call…what’s his name?"
"Guererro sir…"
"yes, yes, that’s it…I’ll give him a call…see if he can get to the bottom of it…"
Trust me on this one.....
That is the typical academic’s view of athletics in the scheme of things at a university…I hear the same stuff all the time, though our president seems to support athletics at Pepperdine.
I may work with the Waves, but I'm still a Bruin!
(Formerly "HoozierDaddy")
Let me add to that, though,
and say in five years, I’ve never seen him at an athletcs event.
I may work with the Waves, but I'm still a Bruin!
(Formerly "HoozierDaddy")
Chancellor Block's head is up his A$$
It might take someone with more access and constantly in Chancellor Block’s ears, than us peons’ blogging about our disgust of the athletic department and its staff (Dan Guerrero) to drive our point home. Maybe with more Celebs, Higher donating Alums, and the Sports Media targeting the decision maker at UCLA, Chancellor Block might think otherwise of the importance of sports, especially Football.
Isn't one of the big problems
with asking to fire DG is that he is somewhat of a big cheese within NCAA AD ranks? I’m not suggesting that is a suitable defense, but one that the administration can point to.
by BruinFanGA on Nov 3, 2011 12:51 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
To me, that's a detriment
DG is a career politician for the NCAA
We need an AD that is a 4 star general for U.C.L.A.
greg in denver, U.C.L.A. guy for life - BruinsNation.com
Read his bio
on the official site, and it points to those NCAA posts as a measure of his “success”. Not saying that is the reason he should NOT be dismissed, but that is his defense.
by BruinFanGA on Nov 3, 2011 1:28 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I hear you
It shows me his priorities are directed at personal goals with do not necessarily help U.C.L.A.
greg in denver, U.C.L.A. guy for life - BruinsNation.com
There are times when you need a consensus builder like Eisenhower.
There are times that you need someone who will make the other side regret that they got out of bed that morning, like Patton. It’s time that Eisenhower was moved out of Morgan Center to his ultimate goal at the NCAA, and we got a Patton in charge of athletics. I would love to have an athletic director who would quickly solve the donkey in te road problem that had stymied his dithering subordinates.
Yeah,
didn’t all that pull with the NCAA come in handy at Women’s Basketball Tournament time…
"Make each day your masterpiece."--JRW
by Give me a B... on Nov 3, 2011 4:54 PM PDT up reply actions
Confirms my fears
Thank you for the post.
As a relatively recent alum (class of ‘08), I already got this vibe and the post seems to confirm that fear: that the top just doesn’t care about much outside of the academics.
It’s easy to blame coaches or even the AD, but when the guy at the top doesn’t care, why would anyone else? Especially when no resources are being given to them to succeed.
And why did I single out academics? It’s not because academics aren’t an important factor (they are still most important), but it’s that academics have been focused on at the expense of everything else.
The entire college vibe seemed to have changed from 2004 to 2008 while I was at school. We went from having old traditions like midnight yell to new ones like undie run all banned or severely restricted. We’ve discussed having an on-campus bars for years (decades, it seems) – but they always get torpedo’d. Greek life changed drastically, and while many of them do stupid things and deserve the punishments they get, ask anyone what the culture was like back in the early 2000’s compared to today, and it’s a world apart.
I know some of what I said is only going to apply to specific situations that I personally saw, and that many issues weren’t entirely in the hands of UCLA. But the lack of coming up to bat for its students, to enhancing the collegiate experience (which yes, includes athletics) – there was no doubt to myself and many of those I knew who felt that same vibe, that the focus was no longer on providing the best experience and instead it was on hitting some distant rankings.
Very proud of your effort, Brother Ike. Thank you. Good job.
Chuck Young was Chancellor in my day. Dude was a sports fan. Dude loved UCLA Football. But even then… the AD was treated as just one facet of UCLA. Between the whole Medical community (hospital, med school, Drew, undergrad programs, etc.), GSM. Law School, facilties and building expansion ever increasing, increased housing, and on…. the Athletic Department was, well, the Athletic Department. Well ran. Way more winning than losing. It’s own well functioning department chalk full of championship teams, star athletes, olympians, etc.. Chancellor Block only re-affirms my own thoughts and suspecions. Beat ASU, somehow play in the Pac-12 Championship game… and win or lose… Rick is back. There’s absolutely no reason to believe that UCLA football will ever be a National power or in the National conversation… unless… we get simply have the players and coaches who “go beyond” and reach for the stars. The School is not behind such an effort with the football program. Chancellors are selected at the Regent level. it’ll take a Bruin athlete at Chancellor for there to be a systematic change, IMHO. Sorry.
U-C-L-A Fight, Fight, Fight! Go Bruins!
NBA: Where Greed Happens. RIP 10/10/11.
Don't be too discouraged
I think just raising it to him in this forum is huge. The main thing is keep up the pressure for wholesale regime change.
Fucking Nerd
I’m a teacher at the high school level, and with all the pressure to be ‘successful’ school, it has been noted repeatedly that high school with winning football programs have higher school spirit (don’t know how they measured that) and therefore high test scores. Sorry, don’t have the report on me…but I think you get the point.
I wish you had asked him if he thought donors were ‘more likely’ or ‘less likely’ to make donations if they could brag about Rose Bowl/Conference Titles wins…
I’m pretty sure I know the answer…
When he brought up the Cal game
you should have said “hey everyone, remember that Thursday night in Tucson? It was 42-7 at the half and we got in a fight!”
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
We want to hear you -- but we really don't
If the Chancellor were really sincere about these public gatherings, he’d not be so concerned with setting the agenda and be more open to hearing what people really want to say.
The direct question about firing RN may have been a bit abrupt, but it was clear that the questioner was concerned about the state of the program; a sincere chancellor, one who was there to listen and discuss, would have move away from the firing issue but still talked about the football program.
The truth is that these “visits” are window dressing to create the appearance of outreach when the only reach is for our wallets.
The only way to have any influence with people like this is to withhold all donations — not just to the athletic department — but all donations until they listen.
sjh
You guys are so cynical
The Chancellor is really interested in a dialogue and learning what the people of the state – his constituents – have to say. Just like Guerrerror is interested in what the alumni think and why he has that big Q and A section in his blog.
+1
This is exactly how I feel. Thanks for sharing your feelings.
The truth is that these "visits" are window dressing to create the appearance of outreach when the only reach is for our wallets. The only way to have any influence with people like this is to withhold all donations — not just to the athletic department — but all donations until they listen.
by iLOATHEscFOREVER on Nov 5, 2011 12:11 PM PDT up reply actions
+1 on this Post - Gurr-Error MUST GO
It was great to read Like’s insight into UCLA’s administration and experience at the fluff & puff rally.
I am completely convinced that up and down the administration (both athletic & academic) the acceptance of mediocrity, the lethargic attitude towards a standard of excellence in sports and especially football have left this long time season seat holder with no other alternative.
The Arizona State game will be our FINAL football game until Gurr-Error is fired or resigns. This poor excuse for an AD can not and should not be allowed to mis-hire another football coach because he lacks the ability & should be immediately relieved of his duties. Alas, I fear that Like is right about the fact that DG is going nowhere. This is true both in DG’s employment as well as his ability to do the job he was hired to do.
We have loved attending games at the Rose Bowl and the joining of fellow alum to celebrate the joy of college football. But there is no more joy once we enter the stadium, only pain. Despite the Bruin V over Cal, it was just too painful to watch our team shoot themselves in the foot less than our opponent did.
I’m leaving for my final tailgate now. I am completely convinced that the administration will change nothing until there are more empty seats than filled ones at the Rose Bowl.
by iLOATHEscFOREVER on Nov 5, 2011 12:07 PM PDT reply actions
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