Alumni Association Home > Past Issues > 2008 > July-August 2008	Print View

Outgoing national board president Tom LaSalle (B.A. ’72) (right) passed the gavel to new president Bruce Mooty (B.A. ’77, J.D. ’80). Photographs by Jana Noonan

Past presidents of the Alumni Association don’t simply fade away. In fact, many continue to serve the University of Minnesota in a variety of ways. For example, more than a dozen of those who once served in this role are current or former trustees for the University of Minnesota Foundation and Minnesota Medical Foundation. Larry Laukka (B.A. ’58), president in 1994–95, is the volunteer leader of the UMORE project. Nancy Lindahl (B.S. ’68), president in 2000–01, and her husband, John (B.S. ’68), are leading the campaign to raise private gifts for the new Gopher football stadium. Several others—including Linda Mona (B.A. ’67), president in 1995–96; Dave Mona (B.A. ’65), president in 1999–2000; Jerry Noyce (B.S. ’67), president in 2003–04; and Andrea Hjelm (B.A. ’65), president in 2004–05—have also stepped up to help in the stadium fund-raising effort. And Dennis Schulstad (B.A. ’66), president in 2006–07, is heading up the plan to memorialize Minnesota war veterans in the stadium plaza design.

Others, like Bob Stein (B.S.L. ’60, J.D. ’61), president in 2005–06, are serving the U in ways less visible but just as important to the vitality of the institution. The University is undergoing a yearlong, campus-wide study of its intercollegiate athletics department for NCAA recertifi cation, and I was pleased to hear last fall that

Alumni Association past presidents Nancy Lindahl (B.S. ’68) (left) and Andrea Hjelm (B.A. ’65)

Bob was asked to sit on the steering committee. Currently on the Law School faculty, Bob is a former dean of the school and for almost 15 years was the U’s faculty representative to the NCAA, Big Ten, and WCHA. Whether sports fans or not, we all know how important athletics is to the image and reputation of the University.

“Sports is an important part of the college experience and campus life and helps build student-faculty-alumni community of support for the University,” Bob says. The NCAA recertification committee is assessing academic integrity, governance and compliance, and equity and student athlete well-being and has sought input from numerous University-affiliated groups and stakeholders, including the Alumni Association. I recently asked Bob to share with alumni what the committee has learned and what’s next.

According to the report the U submitted to the NCAA this past spring, the U last completed a recertification process in 2001. Since then, we’ve made great progress in certain areas. To name just a few:

• Investments in the advising center have raised the quality of academic support provided to student athletes.
• The study found that the proportion of male and female athletes reflects that of the general student enrollment and the racial and ethnic minority participation in athletics mirrors minority student enrollment.
• The

  Alumni Association past president Bob Stein (B.S.L. ’60, J.D. ’61) (left) and president-elect Archie Givens (B.A. ’66, M.H.A. ’68)

  study also concluded that the U’s athletic compliance program has become one of the best in the nation.
  

Of course, through the self-study process, the U also identifi ed areas where it needs to commit additional resources— namely, to the timely graduation of student athletes, particularly in football and men’s basketball. The study also noted a decline in female coaches and budget disparities in men’s and women’s sports in the areas of equipment, publicity, administrative support, and recruiting.

Bob says the steering committee will review the conclusions in the report and ensure that the U implements strategies to continue the progress. This fall, a peer review team will visit campus to assess the U’s report, and, by February, the NCAA will decide whether to recertify the U.

On behalf of the Alumni Association, I thank all of our past presidents for their ongoing service to this great university. They set a tremendous example for all alumni—and for people like me, now a past president myself. This is my fi nal column of what has been a fantastic year—marked by reaching record life membership numbers, securing legislative funding for four biomedical research buildings, and watching the new football stadium rise on campus. I’ve passed the gavel to Bruce Mooty (B.A. ’77, J.D. ’80), but you—and the U—haven’t seen the last of me.