Let's assume this is true and start by indicating that regardless of how you may feel about the job TV did over these past 6 years as Athletic Director, this is a sad day. TV is a very nice person and of course, is a GW alum. I don't believe there are very many out there who did not want to TV to succeed at the highest level, myself included.
That said, I do believe this change is warranted. I say this based on several factors:
1) I was never entirely comfortable over the Nero to Vogel transition. Nero behaved in about the most unprofessional and disrespectful way possible and should certainly be solely responsible for his own actions. Nevertheless, what remained unspoken, serving at the time as Nero's top lieutenant, was what exactly did TV know about Nero's misdeeds, did she try to stop the behavior, and did she ever report the behavior? A series of questionable inaction followed: TV was promoted to AD, no other AD employees were fired (including one notable one who was allegedly in the know), and MoJo, the least qualified but "best camper" on ML's coaching staff, was elevated to head coach.
2. The performance of virtually all GW sports teams have regressed. Am not at all dismissing the importance of graduating athletes but any AD will be measured at least in part by his or her teams' performances.
3. Selfishly, like some of you, the fate of the basketball teams, or specifically men's basketball, is of the utmost performance. Lacking a football team, a school like GW will almost always benefit by having a "basketball person" overseeing its athletic department. While I certainly had issues with Jack Kvancz towards the end of his career, his role on the NCAA basketball tournament committee along with decisions he would make with basketball largely in mind reflected well on GW basketball.
4. Jamion Christian lost his job with two years remaining on his contract. Speaking both morally and fiscally, this can never happen at a school our size. No need to go into specifics. Whether TV was in control of this situation or was powerless over it, neither option bodes well.
5. The practice facility fiasco had to have been the final straw that forced TV to reassess her options. Regardless of who may have been at fault, it was TV's job to understand costs and feasibility before making the decision to upend the swim and diving team. The result is that both basketball teams and the very successful swim and diving team come away disappointed with the swim/diving team facing a major rebuild with a new coach.
I'll also add that the circumstances behind TV's ascent to the AD position were about as unfortunate as it gets. As it is said, you don't want to be the person who replaces the person, you want to instead be the person who replaces the person who replaced the person. Completely unlike her predecessor, TV executed her duties with class and professionalism. She was given a mess to clean up and often performed admirably towards this end. However, as this post suggests, there were a few to many missteps or bumps in the road which became harder and harder to ignore as the on-field and on-court performances of GW's teams were mostly unable to reach a championship caliber level. TV is a good person, and I wish her well at The Pictor Group.
gwstudent2024 wrote: