Welcome New AD Marvin Lewis

[GMUgemini]

You have to keep in mind we are a public university, and that includes huge bureaucratic hurdles General Gregory Washington will need to cross. Hurdles, had they been around during the revolution, might have kept the real General Washington's Continental army in Pennsylvania and allowed the Hessians to fight another day.

Maybe I'm too sympathetic to the flight and don't expect too much action since I did work in the middle of the bureaucracy for 35 years, but for whatever we can secure money and build, I will be grateful.

You have to add the caveat that it’s Virginia bureaucracy, which is its own special kind of hell. It’s not like VA everywhere.

 

[EXpatriot13]

Fundraising issues, state contributions aside...I don't think the school has ever truly prioritized major athletics projects within their master planning. If they had, I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't be able to figure out how to actually fully complete a project (just give me one!) vs. the half completed/failed attempts over the last 10+ years.

It seems we're now just starting to see a shift in that strategy with the current admin, where athletics is being accounted for within the holistic strategy/planning process....long overdue.

Basketball Facility:
- 10 years late and still *at least* 2 years away
- pretty sure the $15M from the state has been approved and rolling over within our budget for at least a few years

Baseball Stadium:
- renovations/buildout of Spuhler Field (only completed the dugouts)
- failed cricket partnership (not just Mason's fault)

Softball Stadium:
- newly built about 15 years ago, but not completely due to failed partnership with pro softball team?
- already trying to raise funds to renovate the dugouts

Soccer/Track Facility:
- "Patriot Park" study released within last 10 years and went nowhere

Field House:
- slapped some lipstick on it and renovated the weight room within the last 10 years, but its use is being way over-extended across sports

 

[GMU79]

My observation is that GMU (heck, I don't even know what to call us anymore!) has been terrific at building a nationally recognized scholastic university of which we can all be proud. And that should be priority #1 for any college/university worth it's salt.
But, as we all know, sports is the engine that drives excitement and fan(atical) support among students and alumni. And for the population at large, it is what first brings name recognition to the school.
Didn't we all get (and maybe occasionally still do) "hey, that was quite a run to the FF you guys had!" I'll wager no one has ever heard, "hey, you guys are really on the cutting edge of innovation, technology, inclusiveness and upward mobility!"
I hope Pres. Washington and the other powers that be will now recognize that it is not either/or, but both/and that could really give us wings in the decades to come.