LOYAL AG said:
Genuine question despite the nature of this board. The outsiders perception is that Texas is more concerned with becoming Berkeley than with winning in sports. your first post on this thread suggests you would be willing to believe that to be true. If the academic side of the house doesn't care about sports then the question is what is propping them up. My answer would be the old guard donors and if that's true what happens when those guys die. Right now the outsiders perception is that Texas is dying athletically and that there's nobody behind the old guard who is willing to fund this thing at level necessary to win. Thoughts?
I think that was exactly true with Bill Powers and Larry Faulkner as past UT presidents. They were happy with Texas being competitive and did not think athletics should eclipse the school's mission as a research engine to grow the state and country's economy. Ironic because Texas saw a huge increase in student interest when the Longhorns won the 2005 title in the Rose Bowl.
I think there is synergy that should be tapped. The two arms should work hand in hand. Athletics is the public face of the university to the broad majority of America. The smarter donors know this surely. I am not connected into the donor scene so I do not know if there are any mega young donors. I can't image there not be any cultivated however. You don't necessarily have to have graduated from the school to reap the advantages whatever they are of giving a lot of money. T. Boone Pickens gave a lot of money to many schools other than A&M and OSU.