There's a middle ground here between saying everything's always Ok no matter what self-destructive
acts are undertaken or remarks university leaders make--and substantially withdrawing support.
 Let's face it: we're all inclined to support GW basketball and it is a large part of our lives. We may wish for healthier interests, but that's the reality. We're here all the time, year round, when there are no games and despite how much GW has resolutely tried to help us totally lose faith.
   GW leadership chose this path of self-destruction. Pretty much those involved are gone, deservedly. One day, GW should right the wrongs done because the real story is very, very ugly. We've been on a six-year nosedive--and to say we shouldn't ever discuss it is ignoring the elephant in the room affecting us today. While we can't take back the truly awful and immoral things that happed around the GW basketball program, we can at least understand why we are here. 
   We went from one NCAA and two NIT appearances, including cutting down the nets at Madison Square Garden to talking about dropping down to DIII in a pretty rapid spiral. Not even the Patriot League. DIII.        Meanwhile, we are changing the name of the team because of just some activist students/strident professors, and their let's gently say, misplaced sensitivity. This constant turmoil doesn't help building back a program. Nor does having interim leadership at the top or a board that makes spineless decisions.
      Add in these presidential remarks, which may have been offhand, a signal flare, or may have been because the interim president comes from a DIII school.  It may have been telling the students what they want to hear. Even if you believed it, you shouldn't say it aloud if you didn't want to even inadvertently damage the program. In a normal world, there would be a long road to travel before this got anywhere near happening, but this is GW. So anything is possible.
    In any case, we can send a message to stop pissing on the program and its biggest fans/supporters, while still supporting sincere efforts from players, coaches and the program. 
     It will probably go unheeded. But emotional connections or not, even for GW, it's probably not a wise course to alienate your best customers and patrons.
   
  
     

Tell the Prez we need a football team. I thought the deal was to get rid of our football team and improve the basketball team. They are not doing a good job, are they?

Gwmayhem - Too put it bluntly, GW never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity to disregard the thoughts and views of alumni, donors, ticketholders, etc. They are in the IDGAF mindset for the most part.  I'm not saying the athletic department - they are trying their best. The problem is above - executives and board. I am virtually certain now that athletics is a rather low priority. But don't just take it from me, they vote with their purse strings. It's rather obvious. It's really too bad because there are good people in the athletic department who are consistently trying to cover for these folks and make chicken salad out of chicken shit. And there is the rest of us who have invested way more into GW athletics in time, energy and money over many years than a few short timers on the board or in executive positions. I saw it all laid bare recently (last 6 years) with the ML and JC terminations. They make it so very hard to support this place and yet out of some sense of loyalty or affinity some of us continue nevertheless. We should probably have our collective heads examined.

 

Tennessee Colonial wrote:

Why do we have a Division III president in the first place? Not a good fit.
.

So was Knapp.
 

BGF, I have to disagree with your last statement.  Do you really feel that certain schools in our own conference, VCU, Dayton, SLU, perhaps now even UMASS and URI, aren't better equipped to capitalize on talent via NIL opportunities, than GW is?  

I think the schools that have the alumni base and a history of athletic success are much better positioned than we are.  Dayton and SLU for sure.  UMASS and URI, based upon their state university alumni base, yep, them, too.  VCU has a short window for creating NIL success.  Even GMU has the capability, being the largest school in Virginia.

But SBU, LaSalle, St. Joe's, Fordham, Davidson (unless Curry funds them), Duquesne, Richmond, and Loyola are no different than we are.
 

jf wrote:

There's a middle ground here between saying everything's always Ok no matter what self-destructive
acts are undertaken or remarks university leaders make--and substantially withdrawing support.
 Let's face it: we're all inclined to support GW basketball and it is a large part of our lives. We may wish for healthier interests, but that's the reality. We're here all the time, year round, when there are no games and despite how much GW has resolutely tried to help us totally lose faith.
   GW leadership chose this path of self-destruction. Pretty much those involved are gone, deservedly. One day, GW should right the wrongs done because the real story is very, very ugly. We've been on a six-year nosedive--and to say we shouldn't ever discuss it is ignoring the elephant in the room affecting us today. While we can't take back the truly awful and immoral things that happed around the GW basketball program, we can at least understand why we are here. 
   We went from one NCAA and two NIT appearances, including cutting down the nets at Madison Square Garden to talking about dropping down to DIII in a pretty rapid spiral. Not even the Patriot League. DIII.        Meanwhile, we are changing the name of the team because of just some activist students/strident professors, and their let's gently say, misplaced sensitivity. This constant turmoil doesn't help building back a program. Nor does having interim leadership at the top or a board that makes spineless decisions.
      Add in these presidential remarks, which may have been offhand, a signal flare, or may have been because the interim president comes from a DIII school.  It may have been telling the students what they want to hear. Even if you believed it, you shouldn't say it aloud if you didn't want to even inadvertently damage the program. In a normal world, there would be a long road to travel before this got anywhere near happening, but this is GW. So anything is possible.
    In any case, we can send a message to stop pissing on the program and its biggest fans/supporters, while still supporting sincere efforts from players, coaches and the program. 
     It will probably go unheeded. But emotional connections or not, even for GW, it's probably not a wise course to alienate your best customers and patrons.
   
  
     

This.