Commodore Nation, April 2012

April 2012

issue

theDEVELOPMENT

what it will taketo reach THE NEXT LEVEL

C O M M O D O R E N AT I O N 1vucommodores.com

VUCOMMODORES.COM

table of contents8 2 Compliance Corner

Send us your questions

5 National Commodore Club SEC Tournament in New Orleans

7 More from McGugin By the numbers

8 My Game Senior pole vaulter Meagan Martin

11 The Cost of Success Raising funds for rising stars

15 My Turn Rod Williamson’s monthly column

17 Anatomy of the NCC Donors discuss their motivation

19 David Williams Q&A Vice chancellor’s take on development

21 Five Things with... Women’s tennis coach Geoff Macdonald

23 Spring Fix Student-athletes serve over break

24 Last Shots Men’s hoops wins SEC Tournament

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To submit a letter to Commodore Nation, you can e-mail: [email protected] or write to Commodore Nation, 2601 Jess Neely Drive, Nashville, TN 37212. Letters should include the writer’s name and address and may be edited for clarity and space.

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A P R I L 2 0 1 22

Editorial

Publisher: Vanderbilt University

Editor-in-Chief: Chris Weinman

Director of Communications: Rod Williamson

Designers: Jeremy Teaford

Chris Weinman

Digital Image Specialist: Julie Luckett Turner

VU Photography: Daniel Dubois

Steve Green

Joe Howell

Jenny Mandeville

Anne Rayner

John Russell

Susan Urmy

Contributors: Brandon Barca

Andy Boggs

Ashley Crosby Sterling Frierson Larry Leathers George Midgett

Kyle Parkinson

Ryan Schulz Jennifer Stevens

Administrative

Chancellor: Nicholas S. Zeppos

Vice Chancellor for University Affairs: David Williams II

Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs: Beth Fortune

Vanderbilt University’s Mission, Goals and ValuesVanderbilt University is a center for scholarly research, informed and creative teaching, and service to the community and society at large. Vanderbilt will uphold the highest standards and be a leader in the quest for new knowledge through scholarship, dissemination of knowledge through teaching and outreach, and creative experimentation of ideas and concepts. In pursuit of these goals, Vanderbilt values most highly intellectual freedom that supports open inquiry, and equality, compassion and excellence in all endeavors.

Vanderbilt University is an equal-opportunity, affirmative-action university.

ON THE COVER: Three student-athletes—Tim Fugger, Jessica Mooney and Festus Ezeli—on top of renderings of work currently underway at the McGugin Center.

POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to National Commodore Club, 2601 Jess Neely Drive, Nashville, TN 37212.

SUBSCRIPTION: To subscribe, contact Chris Weinman by e-mail at [email protected]

ADVERTISEMENT: To advertise with Commodore Nation, please contact Vanderbilt IMG Sports & Entertainment Properties.Jeff Miller, general manager 615/322-4468; [email protected]

Commodore Nation is printed using recycled paper.

Compliance questions? Please contact:

Candice Lee George MidgettDirector of Compliance Compliance Coordinator615/322-7992 615/[email protected] [email protected]

John Peach Andrew TurnerCompliance Coordinator Recruiting/Compliance Coordinator615/343-1060 615/[email protected] [email protected]

C O M P L I A N C E

CORNERThe Vanderbilt Athletic Compliance Office would like to thank everyone that reads Compliance Corner. We’re glad to be a resource for you. In order to better to serve, we’d like to extend the opportunity for you to submit topics to be covered in this section.

Please contact us via email at [email protected] or on our Twitter or Facebook pages. We look forward to hearing from you!

Thank you again for your time and GO DORES!

Follow Vanderbilt Compliance @VandyCompliance

Like Vanderbilt Compliance facebook.com/VandyCompliance


Who Ya With? VU!The spirit is rising among the CommodoreNation, and we need you to rise up! Join the more than 325 student-athletes, coaches and athletic administrators who have committed to taking Vanderbilt Athletics to the next level.

Your Next Level Support Steps1. Buy season tickets, wear your black and gold with pride, and come to games.2. Make or increase your gift to the next level of the NCC unrestricted fund to support student-athlete scholarships.3. Help take a specific team(s) to the next level by making a restricted gift to their sport(s).4. Consider making a capital or endowment gift.5. Include Vanderbilt Athletics in your estate plan.6. Encourage your friends and family to do the same.

For more next level information, call the National Commodore Club at (615) 322-4114or visit NationalCommodoreClub.com.

A P R I L 2 0 1 24

Giving to the National Commodore Club

I would like to give an

unrestricted gift to the NCC in the amount of:

(For gifts or pledges of $25,000 and up, you will be contacted for addi-tional information.)

q I would like to support the National Commodore Club with an unrestricted gift of $__________. By making your gift by May 31, 2012, you will enjoy NCC benefits during the 2012–13 academic year.

Gift levels (Please indicate your intended membership level below.) q McGugin Society $57,863 (cost of student-athlete scholarship at Vanderbilt in 2011–2012) q Dudley Society $40,320 (cost of student-athlete tuitionin 2011–2012) q Fleet Admiral $20,000–$40,319 q Ensign $500–$999 q Admiral $10,000–$19,999 q Master Chief $250–$499 q Vice Admiral $6,000–$9,999 q Lt. Chief $150–$249 q Captain $3,000–$5,999 q Chief $100–$149 q Commander $1,000–$2,999

Ways to give

(For information on setting up an electronic funds transfer, please

see reverse side of form.)

q Check: Make payable to Vanderbilt University and designate your gift to the NCC in the memo line.q Credit card: q Visa q MasterCard q American Express q Discover

q One-time charge ($_____________) q Monthly payment ($_____________ for _____ months) Card number: ____________________________________________ Exp. date: _________________Card holder’s name: _________________________________________________________________

q Stock transfer: Contact Janelle Wilson at (615) 322-4987 or [email protected] I have included Vanderbilt in my estate plans. q Please send me information about including Vanderbilt in my estate plans.Matching gift provided by (company name) ________________________________________________ .You may also make your gift online at www.NationalCommodoreClub.com.

My contact information

See reverse side for additional

contact information.

Don’t forget to sign

Name: ________________________________________ NCC member number: __________________Address (q Home q Business): ________________________________________________________City/State/Zip: _______________________________________________________________________Email: __________________________________ Home phone: ________________________________Work phone: _____________________________ Cell phone: _________________________________

Signature (required): ____________________________________________ Date: ________________

q I wish to decline all tangible benefits associated with this gift (including parking, seating, SEC tournament tickets, etc.).

Mail to: Vanderbilt University, Gift Processing, PMB 407727, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN 37240-7727 Questions regarding your gift? Contact the Gift Processing Office at (615) 322-2979.

Thank you for your gift and your commitment to Vanderbilt. Every gift in every amount makes a lasting impact.

Additional restricted

giving options

(Gifts in this area do not count toward your giving levels

for tickets or parking.)

q I would like to make a restricted gift to the following sport(s) or area(s) of $__________: q Baseball $________ q Golf (Women) $________ q Basketball (Men) $________ q Lacrosse $________ q Basketball (Women) $________ q Soccer $________ q Bowling $________ q Swimming $________ q Cross Country (Men) $________ q Tennis (Men) $________ q Football $________ q Tennis (Women) $________ q Golf (Men) $________ q Track & Cross Country (Women) $________ q Other _______________________________________________________________ $________

*T12N99999999999*

Giving to the National Commodore Club

I would like to give an

unrestricted gift to the NCC in the amount of:

(For gifts or pledges of $25,000 and up, you will be contacted for addi-tional information.)

q I would like to support the National Commodore Club with an unrestricted gift of $__________. By making your gift by May 31, 2012, you will enjoy NCC benefits during the 2012–13 academic year.

Gift levels (Please indicate your intended membership level below.) q McGugin Society $57,863 (cost of student-athlete scholarship at Vanderbilt in 2011–2012) q Dudley Society $40,320 (cost of student-athlete tuitionin 2011–2012) q Fleet Admiral $20,000–$40,319 q Ensign $500–$999 q Admiral $10,000–$19,999 q Master Chief $250–$499 q Vice Admiral $6,000–$9,999 q Lt. Chief $150–$249 q Captain $3,000–$5,999 q Chief $100–$149 q Commander $1,000–$2,999

Ways to give

(For information on setting up an electronic funds transfer, please

see reverse side of form.)

q Check: Make payable to Vanderbilt University and designate your gift to the NCC in the memo line.q Credit card: q Visa q MasterCard q American Express q Discover

q One-time charge ($_____________) q Monthly payment ($_____________ for _____ months) Card number: ____________________________________________ Exp. date: _________________Card holder’s name: _________________________________________________________________

q Stock transfer: Contact Janelle Wilson at (615) 322-4987 or [email protected] I have included Vanderbilt in my estate plans. q Please send me information about including Vanderbilt in my estate plans.Matching gift provided by (company name) ________________________________________________ .You may also make your gift online at www.NationalCommodoreClub.com.

My contact information

See reverse side for additional

contact information.

Don’t forget to sign

Name: ________________________________________ NCC member number: __________________Address (q Home q Business): ________________________________________________________City/State/Zip: _______________________________________________________________________Email: __________________________________ Home phone: ________________________________Work phone: _____________________________ Cell phone: _________________________________

Signature (required): ____________________________________________ Date: ________________

q I wish to decline all tangible benefits associated with this gift (including parking, seating, SEC tournament tickets, etc.).

Mail to: Vanderbilt University, Gift Processing, PMB 407727, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN 37240-7727 Questions regarding your gift? Contact the Gift Processing Office at (615) 322-2979.

Thank you for your gift and your commitment to Vanderbilt. Every gift in every amount makes a lasting impact.

Additional restricted

giving options

(Gifts in this area do not count toward your giving levels

for tickets or parking.)

q I would like to make a restricted gift to the following sport(s) or area(s) of $__________: q Baseball $________ q Golf (Women) $________ q Basketball (Men) $________ q Lacrosse $________ q Basketball (Women) $________ q Soccer $________ q Bowling $________ q Swimming $________ q Cross Country (Men) $________ q Tennis (Men) $________ q Football $________ q Tennis (Women) $________ q Golf (Men) $________ q Track & Cross Country (Women) $________ q Other _______________________________________________________________ $________

*T12N99999999999*


CORNERCOMMODORE CLUB

PHONE: 615/322-4114 • ONLINE: NationalCommodoreClub.com

NCC member Austin Brown (’15, right) and his father Gary

2012 SEC MEn’S BaSkEtBall tournaMEnt — MarCh 8-11

NCC member Logan Van Meter (BA ’10, MA ’11) and her mother Marianne

NCC members Roger and Debbie (BA ’84) SheltonNCC members Mary and David Toops

National Commodore Club members from across the country traveled to New Orleans to watch Vanderbilt compete in the 2012 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament. The ultimate highlight of their trip was watching the Commodores defeat the Kentucky Wildcats to win the SEC Tournament Championship. Congratulations to the 2011-12 Vanderbilt men’s basketball team.

NCC member Susie Day (BA ’65, right) with her daughter Mary Harmening (BS ’91) and grandsons Will and Campbell

NCC members Seth (DUS ’77) and Judy Eskind

A P R I L 2 0 1 26

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More from McGugin

SEC announces 14-team schedules for 2012-13

Commodore football hosts annual Pro Day

3 quarterbacks competing in Head Coach James Franklin’s second year of spring practice— incumbent senior Jordan Rodgers, transfer Austyn Carta-Samuels and freshman Patton Robinette.

9 lacrosse seniors who will be honored during a pregame ceremony on Sunday, April 22, when the Commodores play host to Jacksonville.

10 schools whose men’s and women’s basketball teams both advanced past their first game in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, including Florida, Kentucky and Vanderbilt from the SEC.

10 former Commodores who took part in Major League Baseball Spring Training last month, including 2011 draftees Sonny Gray and Curt Casali.

155.5 inches cleared by pole vaulter Meagan Martin on Feb. 24 at the SEC Indoor Championships, breaking her own school record.

1,281 combined points scored by John Jenkins and Christina Foggie this season, as two players from the same SEC school led their respective leagues in scoring for just the fifth time since 1980.

3.172 million viewers that watched Vanderbilt defeat Kentucky for the 2012 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament title— representing a 17 percent increase in ratings from the previous year.

NUMBERSBy The

T he Southeastern Conference announced its 14-team conference schedules for the 2012-13 season

last month in the sports of baseball, gymnastics, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball.

Missouri and Texas A&M enter the SEC on July 1. Missouri will participate in the Eastern Division and Texas A&M in the Western Division.

The 2012-13 schedule is not based on any other previous or future scheduling for-mats. The SEC Athletics Directors are cur-rently formulating scheduling principles for the 2013-14 season and beyond.

E ight former Commodore football players participated in Vanderbilt’s Pro Day in front of National Football

League evaluators last month at the John Rich Practice Facility and the football weight room in McGugin Center.

The event provided NFL scouts, coaches and administrators the opportunity to evalu-ate Vanderbilt seniors via a series of speed, strength and agility tests, measurements, and position drills.

Two Vanderbilt players that impressed at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis—corner-back Casey Hayward and safety Sean Rich-ardson—were joined by six other seniors from the 2011 Vanderbilt squad:

• Tight end Brandon Barden• Offensive lineman Kyle Fischer• Defensive end Tim Fugger• Defensive tackle T.J. Greenstone• Quarterback Larry Smith• Wide receiver Udom Umoh

2012 Women’s Soccer ScheduleDate Opponent Fri., Sept. 14 at GeorgiaSun., Sept. 16 at TennesseeFri., Sept. 21 at Mississippi StateSun., Sept. 23 at MissouriFri., Sept. 28 AlabamaSun., Sept. 30 South CarolinaFri., Oct. 5 at ArkansasSun., Oct. 7 at LSUFri., Oct. 12 Ole MissSun., Oct. 14 Texas A&MFri., Oct. 19 AuburnSun., Oct. 21 FloridaThurs., Oct. 25 at Kentucky

2013 Baseball ScheduleDate Opponent March 15-17 at AuburnMarch 22-24 vs. FloridaMarch 29-31 vs. TennesseeApril 5-7 at Ole MissApril 12-14 vs. MissouriApril 19-21 at GeorgiaApril 26-28 vs. Mississippi StateMay 3-5 at South CarolinaMay 10-12 at KentuckyMay 16-18 vs. Alabama

2013 Men’s Tennis ScheduleDate Opponent Fri., March 1 vs. LSUSun., March 3 vs. ArkansasFri., March 8 at Texas A&MFri., March 15 at Mississippi StateSun., March 17 at Ole Miss Fri., March 22 vs. GeorgiaSun., March 24 at TennesseeFri., March 29 vs. AuburnSun., March 31 vs. AlabamaFri., April 5 vs. KentuckyFri., April 12 at South CarolinaSun., April 14 at Florida

2013 Women’s Tennis ScheduleDate Opponent Fri., March 1 at LSUSun., March 3 at ArkansasFri., March 8 vs. Texas A&MSun., March 10 vs. MissouriFri., March 15 vs. Mississippi StateSun., March 17 vs. Ole MissFri., March 22 at GeorgiaSun., March 24 at TennesseeFri., March 29 at AuburnSun., March 31 at AlabamaFri., April 5 at KentuckyFri., April 12 vs. South CarolinaSun., April 14 vs. Florida

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My Game

Senior Meagan Martin is the Vanderbilt record holder in the pole vault, having cleared 3.95 meters at February’s SEC Ind-dor Championships. The Lake Mary, Fla., native hopes to build on that success and increase her personal best to more than 4.10 meters this spring. The oldest of three sisters, Martin has traveled the world competing with the U.S. Rock Climbing National Team in locations like Bulgaria and Scotland. Martin sat down with Commodore Nation last month to discuss her game: Family, friends, climbing and falling.

On her circuitous route to pole vaulting: “Originally I was a gymnast. Both of my parents were gym-nasts. My dad did college gymnastics and went to the Olym-pic trials, and my mom’s been a coach ever since I was a baby. I did that until I was 11 and then I kind of knew I didn’t want to do it anymore. So I played soccer for a season, and one of the girls that I played with took me to a rock-climbing gym. I started rock climbing and did that competitively for four years, then one of the girls who I competed against happened to

pick up pole vaulting when she got to high school. My mom encouraged me to try it and I’m glad I did—you can’t

get a college scholarship in rock climbing.”

MeaganMartin

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A Proud Supporter of Vanderbilt University Athletics and the National Commodore Club

T h e O � c i a l Tra ve l Pa r t n e r o f Va n d e r b i l t U n i ve r s i t y A t h l e t i c s

To contact a Vanderbilt sports travel representative call (888) 632-6951 or email [email protected]

On her first week as a pole vaulter:“When you first start out, you don’t get right at it. There are a lot of drills that you have to do. But I thought it was fun—jumping in a sand pit—and I was having a good time. I guess I liked it right away and I started progressing, and it becomes more and more fun when you start bending the pole and you’re jumping higher and falling farther; I like to fall, so that’s something that I enjoy.”

On how often she rock climbs and where she goes:“There’s a gym 10 minutes away from campus. During the season I don’t get to go as much, but in the fall I go there two or three times a week and even get outside and go climbing on some weekends. We usually drive to Chattanooga to Little Rock City or to Monteagle—there’s a place called Foster Falls where you go rope climbing. There’s some good climbing in Alabama and Georgia, too.

“I do two different kinds of climbing: I boulder and I sport climb. Bouldering is done without a rope, but you don’t really go higher than around 16 or 20 feet and you have crash pads. Sport climbing is with a rope and there are long routes that you go up. you’re clipping in with your rope all the way up—that’s called lead climbing.

“My favorite place to sport climb would probably be the Red River Gorge, which is in Kentucky. For bouldering I would prob-ably say, as of right now, while I really like Little Rock City, it’s a close second to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.”

On her friendship with Commodore basketball player Jordan Coleman, who also attended Lake Mary High School:

“Our senior year, we actually won state championships within minutes of each other. I had just won and then she won the triple jump. It was pretty awesome.

“She committed before I did. I hadn’t visited yet but she had already gone and was telling me all about it. That was just another reason to come here. And we’re still really good friends.”

On her routine during competition:“I do the same body movements before every time I jump. I put my pole in my hand and look down at the tape measure. I rock back and forth a little bit and shake my pole, and then I put it up, step back and I go. If I feel weird about it, I do the whole thing over again.

“I also pray before I jump—always. And I tend to wear the same socks—they’re washed, but I wear the same pair, usually on a season-by-season basis…. I also paint my nails the night before a meet. It might not be the same [color], but I always have fresh nails.

“There are some people who have very long pre-run rituals that are kind of funny to watch. you notice them. Mine is just some-thing small, but it is the same every time.”

On her plans following her May graduation:“I’m not sure. I’m thinking of climbing again for a while and seeing what happens with that. Climbing is becoming more and more popular every year, so hopefully it will keep getting bigger. Climb-ing is supposed to be in the 2020 Olympics—that’s the buzz going around the climbing community right now.” n

Martin and her Commodore track and field teammates will compete on campus this month, hosting the Vanderbilt Invitational on April 21 and 22.

A P R I L 2 0 1 210


As football and basketball programs began to flourish in the 1970s, universities began to realize that outside financial help was needed. The decision didn’t come easily on any college campus, however, since athletic directors feared that once their schools began accept-ing outside donations they would become beholden to these donors.

Roy Kramer became Vanderbilt’s Director of Athletics in 1978 and it didn’t take the future Southeastern Conference Commissioner long to realize that to make the kind of headway alumni expected, he would need to find additional sources of revenue.

Expenses were rising. Around the country, salaries and travel costs were escalating. In the Midwest, for example, Iowa State had just lured Michigan’s Johnny Orr to its basketball program for the then princely sum of $60,000, plus some perks. Football teams had long since abandoned train or bus travel to far-away games and some charter flights were costing $20,000 or more!

Kramer saw the trends and turned, somewhat ironically, to the same Clemson/IPTAy Club that Jess Neely had spawned. Forty-eight years after that famous IPTAy formation, Kramer hired George Bennett to become the Executive Director of the National Commo-dore Club.

Bennett had overseen IPTAy for eight years and the Tigers were generating significant gift income. He found a very different land-scape at Vanderbilt.

O n October 16, 1931, Clemson lost a disappoint-ing 6-0 football game to The Citadel. Afterwards, former Vanderbilt captain and then-Tiger Head

Coach Jess Neely lamented that if he just had a few scholarships he felt he could be successful.

Dr. Rupert Fike decided to do something about it and, working with some other interested boosters, organized the IPTAy Club, the first collegiate athletic fundraising organization in the nation. IPTAy is an acronym for “I Pay Ten a year,” a modest start to a club that would be raising in excess of $14 million per year by the turn of the century.

While the number of zeros at the end of that annual fund goal has grown steadily over the decades, some things don’t change. Coaches and the administrators that oversee their programs still look wistfully to development as an important element in the winning formula.

It can be a delicate dance. While some boosters grasp the need to contribute and loyally make donations that help collegiate athletic departments tick, others appear to have a deaf ear to the significance their potential gift could have on their school’s success.

There was a time—certainly back in those formative days of Jess Neely, Dan McGugin and, to a large extent, even the Roy Skinner era in the 1960s and early 1970s—when a university was able to field competitive teams in its athletic department without needing to pass the hat. It would be wonderful if that were still the case but those days are gone with the wind.

Jess Neely played football at Vanderbilt in the 1920s and would later become head coach of the Clemson football team.

RISING COST SUCCESSby Rod Williamson

the of

“We’ll occasionally run into a friend of

our program that feels like his or her

small gift doesn’t make a difference.

We point out that every gift makes

a difference…. [It] is really the

rank-and-file donor that is our

foundation and driving force.”

— Mark Carter, executive director of the NCC and athletic development

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“When I arrived, the NCC had about 600 members with total giv-ing around $200,000,” Bennett recalled recently. “There were quite a few little quarterback clubs but it was not their purpose to raise sig-nificant dollars. I spent three weeks at the Holiday Inn forming a new plan for Vanderbilt based upon my Clemson experience and then realized it was a big mistake because of the differences in alumni bases. Vanderbilt alums were just too scattered.”

Bennett told Kramer that the goal was “to become the best mail order organization we could be.” They decided to disband the exist-ing Commodore Club and start over.

It wasn’t easy. While some Vanderbilt alumni promised that “when you get athletics straightened out to where we can be proud of it, we’ll start donating money,” there were skeptics on nearly every corner. Those doubters included some members in the media, who wondered just what was happening on West End and why it was necessary.

“We asked people if they wanted us to have women’s athletics,” Bennett remembers. “We asked them if they’d prefer to watch the Sigma Nu’s play the Sigma Chi’s or if they’d rather watch Vanderbilt play Kentucky head-to-head. Some people got on board quickly, others took much more time.”

Bennett remembers the big hill Kramer and Company had to climb to get the Commodores back in the Southeastern Conference mix.

“We had the worst weight room in America at the time,” Bennett recalled. “We didn’t even take our recruits there on their visit. We worked hard to build a new stadium where old Dudley Field had stood since 1922. We used men’s basketball as our hub because those tickets were a hot item. If you lived in Nashville and didn’t vacation in Flor-ida or attend Commodore games you were out of the social order. We tried to clean up our priority ticket policy.”

Within a year or two, Vanderbilt was raising $1 million for its athletic schol-arships, thus freeing up other dollars to make much needed advancements elsewhere in the department. Before Bennett would leave in 1986, Vander-bilt would be raising approximately $2 million per year.

InfLATIOn: A TOuGH OPPOnenT

That $2 million went into the athletic scholarship fund during a time when the scholarship was valued at approximately $10,000 per year. That meant that the gifts of alumni and friends nearly met the depart-ment’s total scholarship tab.

Times have changed. That same full scholarship—tuition, board and books—costs $58,000 in 2011-12, making the athletic depart-ment’s total scholarship obligation for about 205 scholarships $12 million for the year. It would take a contribution of $600 today to equal the impact of that $100 gift back in the Kramer-Bennett days.

While the scholarship expenses have steadily increased over the years, annual giving unfortunately has not kept pace. Over the past five fiscal years, annual giving to the National Commodore Club has not cracked $3 million a single time, hovering between $2.7 and $2.9 million.

The downside of this flat-line giving has been mitigated to some degree by the department’s success in building up its athletic en-

dowment. While Vanderbilt ranks last in the Southeastern Conference in an-nual giving by a wide margin, it has the second largest athletic endow-ment in the league, one that spins off about $2 million per year.

Vanderbilt’s athletic endowment—a subset of the university’s much big-ger endowment—has been bolstered by generous friends of the depart-ment and a disciplined philosophy and recognition that a bigger “sav-ings account” would pay dividends throughout the future.

Adding the endowment income with annual gifts still leaves a $7 million gap toward that $12 million scholarship tab, which means that monies that theoretically could have been allocated for improvements elsewhere must be funneled into scholarships to make up the differ-ence. That has restricted what can be done to improve the Commodore athletic brand.

George Bennett (left) headed the Clemson/IPTAY Club until Roy Kramer (right) brought him to Vanderbilt to reorganize the National Commodore Club.

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Athletic

Endowment Funds

$55.2M$45.0M$29.0M$20.0M$19.0M$16.3M$10.0M$11.7M$7.0M$6.1M$4.5M$2.7M

VanDErBIlt vs. SEC SChoolS

2010 SEC Figures* SEC members agreed not to identify institutions

Annual Giving

1. $37.3M2. $28.0M3. $27.1M4. $25.0M5. $23.5M6. $18.8M7. $14.0M8. $13.1M9. $12.3M10. $11.1M11. $8.6M12. $2.9M


BOLD PLAnS TO MeeT TOuGH CHALLenGeS

Vanderbilt Athletics has a wide array of capital projects in motion, so in addition to annual giving and endowment, there is an urgency to identify major gifts. In recent months, a number of impressive enhancements have been finalized and are expected to be in place by summer’s end; they include:

• New lights for Vanderbilt Stadium• New Jumbotron for Vanderbilt Stadium and Memorial Gym• Sports turf on Vanderbilt Stadium• Sports turf on Hawkins Field• Phase II renovation to McGugin Center

These are big-ticket items totaling around $35 million. In addition to this list there are several other projects that will impact our golf and cross country programs that also require external financial assis-tance.

Aside from these major projects that are necessary to keep us competitive in the nation’s most challenging athletic conference, there are other burning financial needs. Expenses have soared over the years.

That “expensive” $20,000 football charter flight in 1975—the one that carried a traveling party of 125 people halfway across the United States—now costs $120,000! Short basketball season charter trips now cost $20,000, often more. Big-time coaches are no longer paid $60,000 a year. The cost for scholarships has tripled since the days of President Nixon.

nexT LeveL OfferS neW OPTIOnS, neW SOLuTIOnS

Under the direction of Mark Carter, executive director of the National Commodore Club and athletic development, new initiatives have recently been introduced as Commodore athletics strives for the “Next Level.”

While the NCC encourages unrestricted gifts that can be applied for tuition, fees and board, one new giving opportunity recently rolled out allows fans to make restricted gifts earmarked for a specific var-sity team.

“We realized that some people feel very good about giving to a particular team,” Carter says. “A tennis letter winner, for example, probably wants to support the tennis program. Now for the first time through the National Commodore Club, we have created an attractive way for that to happen.”

Carter, who is in his second year at Vanderbilt after coming from a highly successful tenure at Duke in a similar capacity, says that there is plenty of room for everyone to participate.

“We’ll occasionally run into a friend of our program that feels like his or her small gift doesn’t make a difference,” he says. “We point out that every gift makes a difference. While it may appear that we are only seeking major gifts, it is really the rank and file donor that is our foundation and driving force. We have plenty of room inside our tent and we are eager to expand our base.”

The National Commodore Club has two relatively new, upper levels of giving. The McGugin Society is designed to cover the costs of one full scholarship for a year; this year that was $58,863. The Dudley Society covers the cost of one year of tuition ($40,315). If Vander-bilt was to add just five new members to each Society, the resulting $497,840 would have a real impact.

In the end, the decision to donate is a personal choice, one that as a reader of this magazine you have already made. There are others, some friends and neighbors, who to this point have chosen not to participate and wonder why they should.

When one makes a charitable contribution, that gift tends to make the relationship more permanent. That gift transfers a form of psy-chological ownership, an ownership of the heart and soul. That is a rock solid foundation for success. n

1. Buy season tickets, wear black and gold with pride and attend games

2. Make or increase your gift to the next level of the NCC unrestricted fund to support scholarships

3. Help take a specific team to the next level by making a restricted gift to that sport

4. Consider making a capital or endowment gift5. Include Vanderbilt Athletics in your estate planning6. Encourage others to do the same

6 SIX StEPS of nEXt lEVEl SuPPort

Renovations are currently in progress at the McGugin Center, updating a number of locker rooms and meeting areas.

JOH

N R

US

SE

LL

Annual gift peer comparison

Duke

Stanford

Wake Forest

Baylor

Vanderbilt

Northwestern

13.0 M

8.3 M

6.5 M

5.0 M

2.9 M

2.5 M

Members at top two giving levels

Duke

Wake Forest

Vanderbilt

29

28

2

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It’s My Turn

by Rod Williamson

A look inside the numbers

T his month’s topic is fund-raising. Don’t stop reading! If you care about Vanderbilt athletics this is important.

We know, we know. It seems we always have our hand out and you would much prefer to read about the magical moments on the field of play. Our point, one we’ve mentioned before, is that without strong financial support we will have fewer magical moments. That’s not a scare tactic, it’s a fact.

We know some scoff at the idea that mighty Vanderbilt, whose very name evokes wealth, would need an outside nickel to thrive. The pot-of-gold theory has existed for decades, allowing that the school’s enormous endowment could pay for absolutely anything and everything if only the university brass so chose. That theory is urban legend.

Endowment monies are earmarked for a specific purpose by the donor at the time of gift and therefore are not discretionary funds to dole out to pet causes. If you or your grandmother created an endowment for, say, a faculty chair in the College of Arts and Sci-ences, would you be happy to find out the income was being used for another purpose? Of course not.

Then there are those who reason, “why should I contribute to the scholarship fund when they are going to offer those scholarships whether I give or not?”

It’s true that our coaches don’t check the NCC account balance before they offer some high school hot-shot a scholarship. your gift doesn’t affect that. But as the feature article points out, we have a $7 million gap between our scholarship need ($12 million per year) and the scholarship income we receive. That big short-fall must come from other pockets, which diminishes our ability to make investments in programs that you enjoy.

you are our choir and therefore you have demonstrated your Commodore commitment. About all you can do more is to consider increasing your contribution—if you are in position to do so—or, even more helpful, help find others to start participating. They are out there.

There are die-hards who hop on chat lines or rave about our ups and downs at the coffee shop, yet don’t chip in a dime to help us advance. We’re not talking about giving beyond one’s means; some giving $50 or $100 have dug deep while at the same time there are members of the famous 1% very content to simply pass the plate to the next guy on the bleachers, seemingly oblivious to the impact they could make.

We’ve been a member of this wonderful department for nearly three decades and we’ve become accustomed to watching many of our programs compete using a form of guerrilla warfare as we strive to slay Gators and Tigers with half their budget. Together we could help end that! We’re making headway in so many other ways.

We’re a proud bunch, us Commodores, and it should hurt our pride to see how far we lag behind our competition in charitable giving. yes, our athletic endowment ranks second in the SEC but we could double our annual giving and still be last. Think about that.

And lest you think we simply can’t match the alumni population of state schools, check out how we stack up with peer schools. It’s one thing to trail state schools with huge alumni and fan bases and quite another to see peers also put us in the distance.

We have thousands of friends and alumni across the globe that care about the Commodores. In our sports-crazy society, some fanatics even equate how the university as a whole is doing with the score of Saturday’s ballgame. Athletics provides a platform for a common bond, community, esprit de corps. Here’s hoping that more members of Commodore Nation will begin to understand our challenges and do what they can to help. That will be appreciated. n

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G rowing up in Nashville, Jim McKee (BA ’60) lived with his mother and grandmother in a two-room apart-

ment without air conditioning. Jim slept on the couch. A two-sport

standout in high school, he passed on an appointment to West Point and instead chose to stay closer to home by accepting a scholarship to play football and baseball at Vanderbilt. McKee’s dormitory on West End was the first time he remembers having his own bed.

More than 50 years later, he has many fond memories of his time at Vanderbilt. As a sophomore pitcher, McKee started both games of a doubleheader at Ole Miss—completing the first seven-inning contest and staying on to pitch the first five innings of game two.

McKee quarterbacked the 1958 and 1959 football teams to a combined record of 10-5-5. He capped his collegiate career with a 14-0 win over Tennessee in Knoxville.

When he looks back at his college days, what he remembers most is the tremendous opportunity afforded to him by his athletic scholarship.

“Vanderbilt meant a lot to me,” McKee said. “I got a good eduction and made life-long friends. There was no way I could have gone to Vanderbilt without my scholarship.”

Having made the connection between his experience as a student-athlete and the fund-ing that made it possible, it is no surprise that McKee has chosen to support the Vanderbilt athletic department by including the National Commodore Club in his estate planning.

Who better to know the importance of giv-ing to the department than someone who has directly reaped its benefits? Such is also the case for Jill Kispert (BA ’89).

The former Jill Goldberg played basketball and soccer at Vanderbilt in the late 1980s, and is believed to have been the first female on an athletic scholarship to study abroad. She rates that experience on par with being part of the Commodores’ first NCAA Tourna-ment squad as a freshman.

“As a former athlete, I have a huge amount of pride in being able to give back some of the opportunities that were given to me,” Kispert said. “It’s my way to stay connected and say ‘thank you.’ I’m grateful to everyone there. They were truly like a family.”

Former student-athletes are not the only alumni who make deep connections with the athletic department. A second generation Vanderbilt graduate, Bracton Thoma (BA ’96) fondly remembers the 1993 men’s basketball team knocking off top-ranked Kentucky en route to an SEC regular season championship.

Thoma came up from his home in Birming-ham to attend baseball’s NCAA Regional and Super Regional victories last spring. He gives to the NCC annually.

“It’s pride in the college I attended,” Thoma said. “With the size of Vanderbilt compared to the size of its competition, I’m just trying to do anything I can to help.”

Many NCC supporters never attended Vanderbilt. Oklahoma native Pat Emery married into the Commodore family. When Emery moved to Nashville, his in-laws, Dr. and Hazel Moon, were already long-time Vanderbilt supporters. Emery’s love of local athletics led him to begin attending games and he was quickly hooked.

“The university is clearly invested in the student-athletes,” Emery said. “And [the stu-dent-athletes] are fine young people—what you want to see in society. [They are] well-educated, care about their community and their team. They are great role models.”

A University of Kentucky graduate, Joel Gordon cannot recall missing a home foot-ball game in the 40 years that he has had the same seats at Dudley Field. Gordon is a former board member at the Vanderbilt Uni-versity Medical Center and his wife, Bernice, graduated from Peabody College.

There are two endowed scholarships at Vanderbilt that have been named in Gordon’s honor—one at Peabody that is awarded to a student with a focus on healthcare business or services, and one for a men’s basketball student-athlete. Josh Henderson is the cur-rent recipient of the latter.

“What I most appreciate is the emphasis that Vanderbilt has placed on athletic and academic success,” Gordon said.

The reasons people feel compelled to give are countless, and the ways that they can contribute are growing as well. From annual giving and capital campaigns to planned giving, the athletic endowment, and the newest option, restricted giving—whereby funds can be earmarked to go to a specific sport—the NCC is helping meet the needs of student-athletes by finding more ways to connect fans with Vanderbilt athletics. n

Above: A two-sport athlete at Vanderbilt, Jim McKee (’60) has included the National Commodore Club in his estate planning.

Below: Jill Kispert (’89) chose to support one of the NCC’s capital giving campaigns. Kispert (center) is pictured with June Stewart, Karen Booker, Jeannie Carol, Wendy Scholtens Wood, Renae Sallquist, Julie Gibbs Tahmoush, Sarah Mannes Homstad and Pat Moran.

A P R I L 2 0 1 218

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Commodore Nation: What are the primary sources of income for Student Athletics?David Williams: Our income comes roughly in thirds. We self-generate about $17 mil-lion through ticket sales, gifts, concessions and so forth. We receive approximately the same amount of money as an investment by the university, and the Southeastern Con-ference membership split is somewhere in the $20-$21 mil-lion range. Our budget is about $55 million.

CN: How would another million dollars of annual fund income affect our athletic budget?DW: If we could raise an additional million dollars it would allow us to pull our operations closer in line with our competitors. To be truthful, we are so far behind our competitors here that while $1 million would help, we actually need much more! For example, an additional $1 million could pay for a new Jumbotron in Memo-rial Gym; or it would allow us to award maximum scholarships in swimming and bowling and better fund men’s cross country; or it could offset expensive travel to Columbia, Missouri and College Station, Texas for games with our new SEC members. There are lots of practical ways we could use additional income.”

CN: The budget seems so big. Do smaller gifts make a difference?DW: yes! Those smaller gifts can add up. And any gift, regard-less of size, shows a commitment that someone is vested in the program. People can grow into larger gifts, too. Most of us have to work our way up in what is comfortable.

CN: How do you respond to those that think the university should essentially pay for its athletic department and its projects?DW: What other great program does that? No other member of the Southeastern Conference pays its entire athletic budget. Every-one generates income through outside resources. Our university is very generous in its investment with athletics, but if you want a first-class program, alumni and friends also have to participate. The university, as wealthy as it may seem, has many needs and not all of these needs have the resources to be self-sufficient. I would offer the divinity school or law school as but two such examples. When we won the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament, everybody was excited about “their” team, but typically our important aca-demic centers receive less fanfare. I hope our fans are beginning to understand that we know what we are doing, that we can and have been successful in athletics; but make no mistake, it costs money. There has to be more than a handful of generous donors making our athletics tick. And very soon others will have a chance to step up and help as we push forward with exciting new facility projects. n

Vice Chancellor Williams on development

David Williams

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2012 BLACK AND GOLDSPRING GAME

SATURDAY, APRIL 14


WITH...GEOFFMACDONALD5

The dean of Vanderbilt coaches, Geoff Macdonald is his 18th season leading the women’s tennis team. A two-time Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year, Macdonald is a regular contributor to the Straight Sets tennis blog on NewYorkTimes.com. Macdonald sat down with Commodore Nation last month to discuss a few books that have piqued his interest lately.

1 LAST TrAIn TO MeMPHIS by Peter Garulnick: “Peter is probably the best writer on music in the United States and he teaches here. He’s also a tennis player. This is his first volume on Elvis

Presley. The follow-up, Careless Love, is about how he became big and how he fell apart. Both really interesting.”

2 PuLPHeAD by John Jeremiah Sullivan: “This collection of essays that came out in November is fantastic. He’s a Sewanee grad that’s written about living with (Southern scholar)

Andrew Lytle, but he’s also got an incredible essay on Michael Jackson and wrote another really good one on Axl Rose.”

3 never DrAnk THe kOOL-AID by Touré: “He’s another very interesting writer. His profiles are featured in the New Yorker a lot. They range from Eminem and 50 Cent to

some that are sports-related like Dale Earnhardt, Jr.”

4 nIGHT Of THe Gun by David Carr: “David is a columnist on the business page of the New York Times, usually on Mondays. He was a drug addict and this

book is about how he overcame that.”

5 THe CATCHer WAS A SPY by nicholas Dawidoff: “This is the story of Moe Berg, who was a catcher in the Major Leagues before becoming a spy for the Office of

Strategic Services in World War II.” n

A P R I L 2 0 1 222


Student-athletes give back on spring break

T hanks in large part to the good folks at MTV, today’s spring break is a gi-ant brand fueled by wild parties in

exotic-but-cost-effective locales (think Panama City Beach). College students flock to beaches across the southeast for a week of revelry in the sun.

Or not. At least for Vanderbilt students, there is another option. An alternative, if you will.

Vanderbilt’s Alternative Spring Break celebrated its 25th anniversary last month. The student-run community ser-vice organization’s mission is “to promote critical thinking, social action and contin-ued community involvement by combin-ing education, reflection and direct ser-vice on the local, regional, national and international levels.”

Freshman swimmer Celeste Jones was one of 12 Vanderbilt students that spent Spring Break 2012 in Douglasville, Ga., volunteering at the youth Villages Inner Harbour Campus—one of Georgia’s larg-est psychiatric residential treatment pro-grams for seriously emotionally disturbed children and youth.

Jones aspires to be a teacher and thought the experience of working with a wide range of children would be reward-ing. She was right.

“It was amazing, a very emotional expe-rience,” Jones said. “It got a lot of people on the trip to view themselves and the world differently. It was the kind of situ-

ation that you wouldn’t expect to change your viewpoint so much, but once you’re actually placed in that situation it was eye-opening.”

Jones’ ASB group worked directly with mentorship director Ka-trina Word, shadowing classes and performing physical labor through-out the 1200-acre wooded campus. Word invited the Vanderbilt group to the facility in part to help spread the word about the good work done there. Inner Harbour tries to find mentors for each young person that comes to campus, with one-on-one attention for each child showing the most positive results.

Asked if she plans to participate in the ASB program against next year, Jones quickly affirms. “I don’t even think it’s an option to not do it, for me. It was definitely more than worth the time.”

Outside of ASB, there are still other op-tions for student-athletes who want to use their week off from school to give back. Ten student-athletes spent the first week of March in Haiti on a trip sponsored by

the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.The group consisted of swimmer Alyx

Vernon; football players Carey Spear, Ryan Fowler and Robby Barbieri; soccer players CJ Rhoades, Amanda Essay, Abby Carr, Grace Stumb and Bridget Lohmuller; and cheerleader Meryl McVicker.

A sophomore from Fair Oaks, Calif., Vernon got right to the point when asked about the experience: “It was unreal. Amazing. Literally life-changing.”

All clichés, yes. But one could see how seven days spent working at an orphan-age in Jérémie, Haiti, might be difficult to sum up in words. One thing Vernon knows for sure is that the journey has re-inforced her desire to serve in the Peace Corps after she graduates.

“Devoting two years of your life to go to another country and be completely iso-lated from your other life is a little daunt-ing,” Vernon said. “I didn’t know if that was something I definitely wanted to do. Now after I was in Haiti, I can’t imagine not doing it.”

While student-athletes at Vanderbilt are playing a vital role in their campus com-munity, they also are reaching across the country and the world to serve those in need. And that's a pretty good alternative to the average spring break. n

Soccer sophomore Grace Stumb with swimmer Alyx Vernon in Haiti.

Celeste Jones (front right) with her ASB group in Douglasville, Ga.

A P R I L 2 0 1 224

C hampions! Freshman Kedren Johnson (top) made the play of the game in the SEC Tournament finals, completing a traditional three-point play to give the

Commodores a late lead they would not relinquish against No. 1 Kentucky. Junior John Jenkins was named the Most Valuable Player for averaging more than 18 points per game.

TYLer kAufMAn fOr vAnDerBILT ATHLeTICS

laSt ShotS

Commodore Nation, April 2012

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