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And cutting old growth forests are never easy. It sounds simple, but it will take another 150 years + to replace what is there now.
My point is that BluebloodU wouldn't give a fuck about the "replace what is there now" part.
Though this was very detailed and insightful, this is AT LEAST 5 years too late. Babcock has always had a reactive approach to everything VT football. Need an AD that is more proactive that has better foresight and vision vs waiting to see what other schools are doing.
The sooner Whit goes, the better. But I fear it's already too late even if you hit a grand slam with new AD
If I'm reading that correctly, I don't think it has to do with the endowment, its public funding, from "athletic fees, state money, and diversions from "main campus".
Might be same rules, but their endowment is nearly 3 times what ours is...
ok
So why is UVa's institutional support of athletics $10m more than us per year, nearly doubling what we are allotted. If we are both playing by the same rules, what are they doing that we aren't
And yet if you read the chart above UVA is definitely supplementing their student fees.
Virginia law requires that "auxiliaries" (parking, dining, athletics, etc.) be self-funding. No E&G (education and general fund) money can be used. There are limited instances of being able to loan money from the university to athletics but those are generally in the realm of capital projects because there is a justifiable benefit to students in being able to use facilities. We are somewhat hamstrung by state laws and a BOV that has been loathe to increase costs borne by students, because of our status as a land grant. We are meant to be an accessible, affordable state institution. That mission may be somewhat at odds with the current reality of athletics. I don't know what the answer is, but I know what many of the budgetary constraints are.
And this is where the BoV comes in as we are charging our students while the rest are finding ways for the university to pay, which while you might think that juat comes from tuition, our tuition isnt much different from UMD or UNC or NC State for out of state schools.
This goes back to my comment about making academics focus on sports, it includes multi-purpose buildings and other things that lots of other universities do.
Not directly next to Cassell or where the practice field and Beamer Barn are located. They could have built out a ton of stuff on chicken hill (further away) and used the area behind Cassell for intermural sports. Or the areas where the upper rec fields are. And cutting old growth forests are never easy. It sounds simple, but it will take another 150 years + to replace what is there now.
I don't really know how to interpret any of these numbers.
When I hear complaints about student fees and see comparisons with other universities, I just have to wonder what numbers aren't captured. I'm happier if the numbers are out in the open, as I suspect they are with UVa and Virginia Tech, as opposed to via hidden subsidy, as I suspect they are at most schools.
At the end of the day, you have to compare total costs vs total costs. That's the bottom line.
I appreciate Whit's open approach to asking these questions. The BOV has to appreciate the value of revenue sports, and what it's going to take to support successful athletic programs. I see a lot of value in them, and I hope they do as well.
Whatever you do, don't mention Buc-ee's to Bill Holtzman...
Am I reading the second chart wrong where VT has one of the highest values every year?
Oh it's underway.
Making the Hardee's coupon joke even better, the location on Price's Fork closed a couple months ago...
I don't know, I bet the BOD will be interested in your "live guitar music in every food hall" program. Don't sell yourself short. I believe in you.
She kinda looks like Meryl Streep
Don't forget to bring some Hardee's Giftcards - instead of bending ears, try guiding their stomachs. A burger, fries, and a supersized investment in VT athletics.
In all seriousness, congrats on your promotion/enhanced roll! Pretty cool!
It's because your eyes have become so used to the purple "maroon" they switched to around the same time as the new university branding.
Am I the only one who skimmed through this list and thought I saw "Scarlett Johansson"?
Will you elaborate on your not-so-easy land for expansion that VT passed up on?
Ahem, your friendly neighborhood moderator actually happens to be the faculty representative to the BOV.
https://news.vt.edu/articles/2025/07/cm-newfacultyandstaffrepresentative...
I'll be at the retreat next week. Happy to report back what I learn and bend a few BOV members' ears while we're having coffee, lunch, etc. I have a few bigger fish to fry on behalf of VT faculty, but I think folks are much more likely to want to chat about football over what I need to bring up...
If we beat South Carolina, he will have to change his name to Shame Beamer.
Okay - so here's something interesting: if you use the Knight Commission to pull data, you'll see that Virginia Tech student fees are higher than most public ACC schools:
However, if you filter by 'institutional support' - which includes student fees + state gov't funding + money sent from 'main campus' - you see that VT is getting far less institutional support than other schools most years:
The definition is:
More details here (scroll to INSTITUTIONAL/GOVERNMENT SUPPORT)