So, a lot of disclosures here:
1) I planned on writing this BEFORE I was chosen to be a faculty coach. (read what that is and my personal thoughts about that here)
2) These are clearly my own thoughts and not those of anyone else at UNC Charlotte.
I think football at UNC Charlotte is a great idea and I have thought so at the beginning. Yes, there are plenty of faculty who don’t support the football program because they think it will take money away from academics, but I think they are misguided and/or wrong on many accounts.
First, what money? Please tell me about this “money” thing of which you speak. We don’t get raises. We get minimal money to travel to our conferences. We don’t get paid for the summer research we are expected to do. Unless they start actually making us pay to work here, I can’t see how “less money” is an issue here.
Second, school pride. HOLY FRIJOLES!! I’ve been at UNC Charlotte for 12 years now (egads!) and I’ve never seen so much school pride as I do now! Students are talking about the football games in class. They are excited when they get tickets and bummed when they don’t.. The number of students wearing school paraphernalia (shirts, sweats, hats, etc) is noticeably higher. I’m even seen alumni and faculty in my neighborhood flying UNC Charlotte 49er Flags off their houses! The Charlotte Observer is giving the 49ers more explicit press than I’ve ever seen. (And after last week’s game, it’s clear why)
Finally, alumni opportunities. When I lived in Los Angeles and was head of the LA area UNC Chapel Hill alumni club, I met some of my best friends watching the football games with other alumni. Basketball games, even for Chapel Hill, are too frequent to regularly get together. But once a week football games on a Saturday are a reasonable way to interact with new people and old friends who have shared similar experiences. I think it does a lot for alumni in job hunting and general networking, but also in keeping students tied back to the school.
So I think football here is a great idea. And I think it’s exceeded everyone’s expectations so far. And I had all those thoughts BEFORE I was chosen as the guest Faculty coach. Now, I’ve completely drunk the kool aid and beyond gung ho about the whole idea. I can’t wait for this weekend!!