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GW Hatchet -- As GW charts its future, Granberg embraces athletics
Given the upheaval in D1 athletics with NIL and the portal, we should all be glad to see the new Prez sees things this way:
University President Ellen Granberg has seen what a winning team can do for a college.
As a sociology professor at Clemson University during the football program’s meteoric rise in the 2010s, she watched applications double, donations swell and school spirit seep into every corner of campus life. She also saw stronger faculty hires and a more competitive and diverse applicant pool as the Tigers’ success boosted the school’s national profile.
Now, as GW’s president, Granberg is trying to replicate that success in Foggy Bottom. She understands that Clemson and GW are “very different institutions” but believes athletics is an underutilized market officials should be using to recruit stronger students, woo donors and sharpen the school’s national profile.
“From my time [at Clemson], I developed an appreciation for how athletics, when aligned with a university’s culture, can help attract and retain highly talented students, faculty and staff because of the role it plays in creating a sense of vibrancy and fun on a campus,” Granberg said in an email.
Granberg said she believes GW has a “unique opportunity” to tap into that potential because of its location in D.C. and “global” alumni community. She said athletics has emerged as a recurring priority in conversations with alumni, GW Athletics staff and students since she arrived, and recognizing the role athletics plays in the student experience pushed officials to fold the interest into GW’s strategic framework...
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Re: GW Hatchet -- As GW charts its future, Granberg embraces athletics
Let's bring back football! Rose Bowl here we come.
Seriously, this is a good thing.
- Gwmayhem
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Re: GW Hatchet -- As GW charts its future, Granberg embraces athletics
On the subject of investing in athletics, we've received so much lip service throughout the decades that it's almost impossible not to take an "I'll believe it when I see it" view. It's encouraging that Dr. Granberg has her experience at Clemson to draw upon. I do believe she "gets it." Nevertheless, there's a lot of things in life that I don't have because I can't afford them, and a properly financed basketball program may simply be out of reach. Sure, not today with 3% budget cuts and GW facing a financial shortfall. But these circumstances will eventually change for the better and the question then becomes whether GW will take some financial risks in order to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Dayton's, St. Louis's and VCU's of our conference or will we continue to look more like La Salle or Fordham with respect to what we put into this program.
I'll also add that it's simply unsustainable to rely on the current crop of generous donors and ticket buyers to keep putting more and more into this. Average attendance of 1,800 is frankly, pathetic. And yet, it's somewhat understandable given the lack of marketing and promotion that we've been witnessing ever since that successful run during the 1990's. The genuine hope is that a more successful team, given the forecasts, brings in more fans and subsequently, more revenue to work with. yet wins alone will not be enough unless this success is properly promoted.