A regular column by Athletic Director Bill Husak.
An Athletics program is very similar to a human body. In order to function optimally, the various systems and organs of the body need to be healthy and the environment in which we operate needs to be sustaining. In this column, I wish to identify one of the most critical of systems and that is our fans who support our programs.
Some universities provide very little support to Athletics programs. These Departments operate as auxiliaries and must make their budgets through gifts, ticket sales, and other forms of revenue. Annually, there are about 40 such institutions that are able to generate enough dollars to not seek institutional support, and all of these are football-playing institutions. The rest of collegiate athletics has to depend on the university to support its programs at a basic level. In order to be able to do special things, these programs have to rely on the generosity of its fans and alumni.
Loyola Marymount University has been very generous in committing to the Athletics program. Our ability to recruit and provide the extras for our student-athletes is dependent upon the benevolence of people like you who read this column. During the course of the 2006-07 year, your support to LionsFund and our teams contributed over $450,000 in immediate-use funding toward the goal of Building Champions. Through this, we were able to provide the extra "Margin of Excellence" for our teams. What has the margin of excellence that you provide done? Let me give you some answers:
- Over $300,000 in support of student-athlete scholarships. Academic success continues to remain foremost for our student-athletes, and LMU boasts the best-funded scholarship program in the entire West Coast Conference. Thirteen of our teams receive the NCAA maximum allowable athletic aid, equating to more than 125 athletic scholarships, a critical foundation for our success. Just last week five Lions were named WCC Spring All-Academic Selections, representing four different sports and including the 2007 Women's Tennis WCC Player of the Year Pavla Mesterova. In addition, junior Laura Mickelson became our second LMU student-athlete to be named an Academic All-American this year, and eighth Lion in any sport to receive this recognition. Laura joins Stacia Peterson of Women's Water Polo, who also earned this award earlier this spring.
- Funding for NCAA Championship appearances and travel, as well as team championship awards. This also includes the ability for our teams to continue to represent LMU by playing a nationally-competitive and visible schedule.
- Facility and playing field improvements. We want to make our athletic facilities a first-class experience for both our student-athletes and fans, and this has included work done such as refinishing of playing surfaces, new celebration and championship banners, and other design improvements in Gersten Pavilion.
- Implementation of department-wide recruiting and compliance software, helping to keep LMU Athletics ahead of our competition for an edge in state of the art technology systems for recruiting our next generation of outstanding student-athletes.
In May, we graduated a senior class that set many all-time marks for success in LMU Athletics and set high expectations for our future student-athletes. But this year's incoming class of Lions student-athletes is extremely exciting across all our sports, and their talents will combine with a strong core of returning student-athletes to continue to make us better.
Each of you, as our fans, alumni, and families, are an important part of our LMU Athletics team. You provide that support and environment for success and by participating in LionsFund you also become a valuable organ in this system of support. I am proud of our year that we just completed, but I am even more excited about the possibilities of the year ahead.
To continue this success, we will kick off our Sixth Annual LionsFund Summer Drive beginning the first week of July. Over the course of the next five weeks, you may be contacted by one of our enthusiastic volunteers on behalf of LionsFund. Their efforts are critical to both our short-term and long-term success, and we encourage you to speak with them as they are volunteering their time and efforts to help directly touch the lives of our students. If you would like to make a gift right away, or are interested in volunteering to help our efforts, just call us at (310) 338-2908 or email Rob Anderson at randerso@lmu.edu. Don't wait to be called - join the team now and watch as we continue to BUILD CHAMPIONS!
Go Lions!
Go Lions!
Bill Husak
