Synopsis of last night's conversations; beginning with the general themes both President Herbst and AD Benedict presented from the podium, followed by the specific one on one conversations I had with each of them.
1) President Herbst stressed the importance of the school's current focus on increasing it's presence in Fairfield County, the importance of the school's determination to continue its growth as a research institution and the benefits it can provide the state as an economic driver with its STEM initiative.
2) Our AD made it clear that football is a priority (mentioned early in his speech that his first question to everyone was "do you have football season tickets?"), praised the success our school has achieved over many sports and the importance, especially in our current predicament, for fans to support the programs. He is very energetic and is far more outgoing than Warde (not that either personality type is a bad thing as long as it comes naturally). He also seems to have the mentality that whether it's football at the highest level or tiddly winks, if they're keeping score he wants to win.
There was quite a bit of discussion on both academic and athletic investments currently in place (next gen housing, baseball/softball facilities) but also the need of continued giving, especially with the uncertainty of what the state will continue to provide.
The Q&A was very conference realignment based and the theme is (both academically and athletically) as long as we keep doing what we are doing things will at some point work out for us. We cannot just ask a P-5 conference (or the AAU) for admittance and expect it to happen but as long as we have a profile that exceeds many current members of each, the day will arrive where we are admitted.
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Individual conversations:
1) Conversation with President Herbst: For opener's, I'm 55 years old and in this (far older chronologically than he feels) man's eyes, Suzie is hot. That said, as always she was very direct and professional. Housing in Stamford (I don't think I can share too much of what I know) will begin in the summer of 2017. Among the goals is to make Stamford a place where students primarily based in Storrs can 'study abroad' for a semester in conjunction with an internship in Manhattan or Stamford. When she found out I am employed by a large Real Estate developer down here the conversation (at least the portion pertaining to housing) stalled. Improving their presence here however is a huge priority (in my opinion it should have been for more than 100 years now). She also stated the importance of maintaining a requirement on teaching humanities to all students while increasing the school's standing as a research institution.
2) I spoke with Dave Benedict for at least 20 minutes and I am convinced we hired the right guy (this coming from someone who thought the world of Warde). He loved the story of the Boneyarders (of which I'm one) who donated tickets to football games last season and we discussed improving the fan base down here. We even ended up speaking about men's lacrosse (something that likely isn't financially possible at the moment, save some angel contributor) and how beneficial adding that program would be for the school. It is a sport that we could be highly competitive nationally in a very short period of time (his words, not mine), it would help us engage people in lower Fairfield County, Westchester and Nassau Counties (my words), extending the school's 'home turf' beyond the state line, improving our presence in metropolitan NY.
All in all it was a great event and I walked away more convinced than ever that we have the right leadership in place, if only we hired Suzy in 2005.