Donna Shalala

[dookie blaylock]

i'm not sure how such a small amount of people here realize that the university of miami is, in fact, a university. the science building that is currently on campus is obsolete and the department is in desperate need of a new facility. she was hired to make the academics at the university better, first and foremost, and has done an unbelievable job doing so.

yes, it is true that the football team WAS (yes, i said it "WAS") responsible for bringing in a lot of attention and new students, but it ceased to be a predominant reason for enrollment when the program when down the crapper in the mid-late 2000s. i'll be the first to admit that football was a huge reason to come to miami when i enrolled in 06, but that sentiment has been severely reduced among the rest of the student body when we started to suck. football games are just an excuse to get drunk on saturdays now for a lot of students and you can tell by the student section emptying out at halftime at about every game. shalala is far more supportive of athletics than foote ever was and anyone who says she destroys programs conveniently don't count wisconsin's success academically and athletically during her time there.

i completely understand the frustration from the fanbase about the lack of performance and the decline of the program (i'm just as upset as anyone else here), but aside from going to a few games and buying some merchandise, most fans don't have a vested interest in the university. if the school were to close tomorrow, the most a lot of people would miss is the football team, and maybe baseball and basketball. for me, i would lose the value of my degrees and the school i call home, along with the team that i love more than anything. shalala's work in improving the school's academics mean far more to the students and alums and cannot be appreciated if you never benefited from them first-hand. her work in fundraising afforded me and countless others the opportunity to attend on scholarship (because there was no way i could afford paying full tuition) and get a quality education from a top-50 university.

oh and for everyone who thinks that highsmith is spiting her about the stadium? they're actually pretty good friends.
that's them two together stopping by my table at homecoming. the stadium decision is not in her hands.

 

[McGahee2TheHouse]

Good post. I wouldn't worry about explaining yourself to some of the dolts on here who have neither a degree from UM nor the pleasure of ever stepping foot on its campus. They are literally too stupid to reason with.

I took Shalala's class when I was in undergrad and promise everyone that she is 100% for athletics. She made that clear a million of times, in various ways, throughout the semester.

 

[hoops156]

Good post. I wouldn't worry about explaining yourself to some of the dolts on here who have neither a degree from UM nor the pleasure of ever stepping foot on its campus. They are literally too stupid to reason with.

I took Shalala's class when I was in undergrad and promise everyone that she is 100% for athletics. She made that clear a million of times, in various ways, throughout the semester.

took the same healthcare crisis class in spring of 10. great class smart woman and yes he is right she is at the sporting events and does love sports and wants us to do well. she stated it a million times.

 

[RBhurricane87]

Good post. I wouldn't worry about explaining yourself to some of the dolts on here who have neither a degree from UM nor the pleasure of ever stepping foot on its campus. They are literally too stupid to reason with.

I took Shalala's class when I was in undergrad and promise everyone that she is 100% for athletics. She made that clear a million of times, in various ways, throughout the semester.

took the same healthcare crisis class in spring of 10. great class smart woman and yes he is right she is at the sporting events and does love sports and wants us to do well. she stated it a million times.

I also took that class in the spring of 2010.

 

[jevoasis]

I remember her walking around during halftime of a basketball game in January, shaking hands and talking with both students and fans, smile from ear to ear. Great President, and loves the school.

 

[AlexCane]

i'm not sure how such a small amount of people here realize that the university of miami is, in fact, a university. the science building that is currently on campus is obsolete and the department is in desperate need of a new facility. she was hired to make the academics at the university better, first and foremost, and has done an unbelievable job doing so.

yes, it is true that the football team WAS (yes, i said it "WAS") responsible for bringing in a lot of attention and new students, but it ceased to be a predominant reason for enrollment when the program when down the crapper in the mid-late 2000s. i'll be the first to admit that football was a huge reason to come to miami when i enrolled in 06, but that sentiment has been severely reduced among the rest of the student body when we started to suck. football games are just an excuse to get drunk on saturdays now for a lot of students and you can tell by the student section emptying out at halftime at about every game. shalala is far more supportive of athletics than foote ever was and anyone who says she destroys programs conveniently don't count wisconsin's success academically and athletically during her time there.

i completely understand the frustration from the fanbase about the lack of performance and the decline of the program (i'm just as upset as anyone else here), but aside from going to a few games and buying some merchandise, most fans don't have a vested interest in the university. if the school were to close tomorrow, the most a lot of people would miss is the football team, and maybe baseball and basketball. for me, i would lose the value of my degrees and the school i call home, along with the team that i love more than anything. shalala's work in improving the school's academics mean far more to the students and alums and cannot be appreciated if you never benefited from them first-hand. her work in fundraising afforded me and countless others the opportunity to attend on scholarship (because there was no way i could afford paying full tuition) and get a quality education from a top-50 university.

.

I acknowledge that the football program probably hasn't allured many students here in a while, but I was in undergrad during the '01 season, and IIRC, applications went up approximately 30% after we won the championship in 2001. A bigger applicant pool means a better incoming class. There ought to be impetus to be successful in football, IMO, because it's an easy way to market interest - and in turn, applications - to the university.

 

[dookie blaylock]

i'm not sure how such a small amount of people here realize that the university of miami is, in fact, a university. the science building that is currently on campus is obsolete and the department is in desperate need of a new facility. she was hired to make the academics at the university better, first and foremost, and has done an unbelievable job doing so.

yes, it is true that the football team WAS (yes, i said it "WAS") responsible for bringing in a lot of attention and new students, but it ceased to be a predominant reason for enrollment when the program when down the crapper in the mid-late 2000s. i'll be the first to admit that football was a huge reason to come to miami when i enrolled in 06, but that sentiment has been severely reduced among the rest of the student body when we started to suck. football games are just an excuse to get drunk on saturdays now for a lot of students and you can tell by the student section emptying out at halftime at about every game. shalala is far more supportive of athletics than foote ever was and anyone who says she destroys programs conveniently don't count wisconsin's success academically and athletically during her time there.

i completely understand the frustration from the fanbase about the lack of performance and the decline of the program (i'm just as upset as anyone else here), but aside from going to a few games and buying some merchandise, most fans don't have a vested interest in the university. if the school were to close tomorrow, the most a lot of people would miss is the football team, and maybe baseball and basketball. for me, i would lose the value of my degrees and the school i call home, along with the team that i love more than anything. shalala's work in improving the school's academics mean far more to the students and alums and cannot be appreciated if you never benefited from them first-hand. her work in fundraising afforded me and countless others the opportunity to attend on scholarship (because there was no way i could afford paying full tuition) and get a quality education from a top-50 university.

.

I acknowledge that the football program probably hasn't allured many students here in a while, but I was in undergrad during the '01 season, and IIRC, applications went up approximately 30% after we won the championship in 2001. A bigger applicant pool means a better incoming class. There ought to be impetus to be successful in football, IMO, because it's an easy way to market interest - and in turn, applications - to the university.

there's no denying that the 01 team brought in a surge of applications and i'd even dare to say that they played a huge part in laying down the foundation of incoming students that set a higher standard academically at the university. but since then, applications have been coming in at increasing rates on an annual basis, even with a bad team. a good friend of mine worked in admissions staring around 2009 and said it was insane how many more they had to go through every year. now that the university has broken into the top 50, it's reached a point where its brand is good enough academically to get those quality applications.

now, would a winning program further increase those applications? most definitely.

would having our own stadium that we could fill that's close to campus help that cause with recruitment and revenue? of course.

but right now, there are other priorities: namely a new science building (because no prospective professor or student in his/her right mind would enjoy working and studying in cox) and increased financial aid so students can actually afford their education while in a down economy. i'm all for having our own stadium, but the fact is there are bigger fish to fry for the university at this point.

 

[AlexCane]

i'm not sure how such a small amount of people here realize that the university of miami is, in fact, a university. the science building that is currently on campus is obsolete and the department is in desperate need of a new facility. she was hired to make the academics at the university better, first and foremost, and has done an unbelievable job doing so.

yes, it is true that the football team WAS (yes, i said it "WAS") responsible for bringing in a lot of attention and new students, but it ceased to be a predominant reason for enrollment when the program when down the crapper in the mid-late 2000s. i'll be the first to admit that football was a huge reason to come to miami when i enrolled in 06, but that sentiment has been severely reduced among the rest of the student body when we started to suck. football games are just an excuse to get drunk on saturdays now for a lot of students and you can tell by the student section emptying out at halftime at about every game. shalala is far more supportive of athletics than foote ever was and anyone who says she destroys programs conveniently don't count wisconsin's success academically and athletically during her time there.

i completely understand the frustration from the fanbase about the lack of performance and the decline of the program (i'm just as upset as anyone else here), but aside from going to a few games and buying some merchandise, most fans don't have a vested interest in the university. if the school were to close tomorrow, the most a lot of people would miss is the football team, and maybe baseball and basketball. for me, i would lose the value of my degrees and the school i call home, along with the team that i love more than anything. shalala's work in improving the school's academics mean far more to the students and alums and cannot be appreciated if you never benefited from them first-hand. her work in fundraising afforded me and countless others the opportunity to attend on scholarship (because there was no way i could afford paying full tuition) and get a quality education from a top-50 university.

.

I acknowledge that the football program probably hasn't allured many students here in a while, but I was in undergrad during the '01 season, and IIRC, applications went up approximately 30% after we won the championship in 2001. A bigger applicant pool means a better incoming class. There ought to be impetus to be successful in football, IMO, because it's an easy way to market interest - and in turn, applications - to the university.

there's no denying that the 01 team brought in a surge of applications and i'd even dare to say that they played a huge part in laying down the foundation of incoming students that set a higher standard academically at the university. but since then, applications have been coming in at increasing rates on an annual basis, even with a bad team. a good friend of mine worked in admissions staring around 2009 and said it was insane how many more they had to go through every year. now that the university has broken into the top 50, it's reached a point where its brand is good enough academically to get those quality applications.

now, would a winning program further increase those applications? most definitely.

would having our own stadium that we could fill that's close to campus help that cause with recruitment and revenue? of course.

but right now, there are other priorities: namely a new science building (because no prospective professor or student in his/her right mind would enjoy working and studying in cox) and increased financial aid so students can actually afford their education while in a down economy. i'm all for having our own stadium, but the fact is there are bigger fish to fry for the university at this point.

That building was run down when I was there. 11 years ago. Personally, as alumni now, I'd place emphasis on stadium because it's something I could actually enjoy; whereas Cox building or financial aid for incoming students does nothing for me, but your point is well taken.

 

[LA'Cane818]

i'm not sure how such a small amount of people here realize that the university of miami is, in fact, a university. the science building that is currently on campus is obsolete and the department is in desperate need of a new facility. she was hired to make the academics at the university better, first and foremost, and has done an unbelievable job doing so.

yes, it is true that the football team WAS (yes, i said it "WAS") responsible for bringing in a lot of attention and new students, but it ceased to be a predominant reason for enrollment when the program when down the crapper in the mid-late 2000s. i'll be the first to admit that football was a huge reason to come to miami when i enrolled in 06, but that sentiment has been severely reduced among the rest of the student body when we started to suck. football games are just an excuse to get drunk on saturdays now for a lot of students and you can tell by the student section emptying out at halftime at about every game. shalala is far more supportive of athletics than foote ever was and anyone who says she destroys programs conveniently don't count wisconsin's success academically and athletically during her time there.

i completely understand the frustration from the fanbase about the lack of performance and the decline of the program (i'm just as upset as anyone else here), but aside from going to a few games and buying some merchandise, most fans don't have a vested interest in the university. if the school were to close tomorrow, the most a lot of people would miss is the football team, and maybe baseball and basketball. for me, i would lose the value of my degrees and the school i call home, along with the team that i love more than anything. shalala's work in improving the school's academics mean far more to the students and alums and cannot be appreciated if you never benefited from them first-hand. her work in fundraising afforded me and countless others the opportunity to attend on scholarship (because there was no way i could afford paying full tuition) and get a quality education from a top-50 university.

.

I acknowledge that the football program probably hasn't allured many students here in a while, but I was in undergrad during the '01 season, and IIRC, applications went up approximately 30% after we won the championship in 2001. A bigger applicant pool means a better incoming class. There ought to be impetus to be successful in football, IMO, because it's an easy way to market interest - and in turn, applications - to the university.

This. I have an MBA from Miami but I was a fan from the time I was 7. The reason I applied to UM was because I was a fan of football which led me to have a desire to attend the school to be around it. I couldn't afford to attend for undergrad but always remained a fan. Those who say that fans who don't have a vested interested just because they didn't attend school are using dangerously broad strokes and need to take their noses out of their asses.

I happen to think Shalala is doing a good job, but Academics will always come first with her. My degree thanks her, but my love of this program loathes her. A real president would find a way to do both, look at Stanford, even Duke with Basketball. It can be done, she just prioritizes academics. She doesn't care if we win another championship if it isn't on her terms.

 

[Consigliere]

These aren't mutually exclusive things

1. Stadium

versus

2. Academics

Look at Tulane and what they could do. I want the same thing but it doesn't need to be on campus (tropical park is great and I believe the school owns a bunch of vacant land but can't remember where).

Tulane Undergrad has less students than Miami, so a small private school serious about academics can build a stadium.

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/07/tulane_stadium_oked_by_new_orl.html

I graduated in 2007, I love Miami. We deserve our own 45,000 person stadium as a home.

I hope we hire an AD who makes this a priority. I wonder what Golden wants. I am not saying the trustees and admin are against this, I just don't think they realize its a possibility.

 

[ECC609]

I got to UM in 2002, and I can't speak for everyone; but it seems like the newer classes like her more than we did back then. Maybe it was just the people I hung around with.

 

[McGahee2TheHouse]

I got to UM in 2002, and I can't speak for everyone; but it seems like the newer classes like her more than we did back then. Maybe it was just the people I hung around with.

Graduated in 2007, go to law school here now. Since I've been here, the student body has been nothing but enamored with Shalala. Out of curiousity, what was it that y'all didn't like or like as much about her?

 

[cowboycane]

If you don't like Shalala it is most likely her politics; it is pretty inarguable that she is good for the university as a whole, in my opinion. She has raised the profile, changed the reputation and taken leaps and bounds toward making it a truly elite establishment. And this is coming from someone who does not particularly enjoy her politics.

 

[ECC609]

I got to UM in 2002, and I can't speak for everyone; but it seems like the newer classes like her more than we did back then. Maybe it was just the people I hung around with.

Graduated in 2007, go to law school here now. Since I've been here, the student body has been nothing but enamored with Shalala. Out of curiousity, what was it that y'all didn't like or like as much about her?

Nothing groundbreaking or anything, pretty much the same **** you'll hear from most people, our problems with her stemmed from athletics. I remember there was some kind of meet and greet thing with her my first week on campus before classes started(I only gave **** because I heard about free food). Anyway she said some of the same stuff she's said for years when asked: "No they're not ashamed of the football team's past"; "Yes they're working to do more to honor and acknowledge those teams"; "Yes she does care a lot about athletics". None of it really came off as genuine to us, and we all kind of feel like the attention she did pay to the football program was out of a necessity; because we have a history of winning. In other words if our team had never won **** we don't think she'd work very hard to turn that around, and to us that's not caring very much about athletics. Also none of us liked the Big East move for personal(most of us were from the tri-state area and hated the ACC) and competitive reasons.

I'm not a fan of Shalala, but she's not going anywhere so I don't lose sleep over it. It is what it is.

 

[Notsince1985]

These aren't mutually exclusive things

1. Stadium

versus

2. Academics

Look at Tulane and what they could do. I want the same thing but it doesn't need to be on campus (tropical park is great and I believe the school owns a bunch of vacant land but can't remember where).

Tulane Undergrad has less students than Miami, so a small private school serious about academics can build a stadium.

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/07/tulane_stadium_oked_by_new_orl.html

I graduated in 2007, I love Miami. We deserve our own 45,000 person stadium as a home.

I hope we hire an AD who makes this a priority. I wonder what Golden wants. I am not saying the trustees and admin are against this, I just don't think they realize its a possibility.

As a Tulane alum, I will speak to that. Tulane had a stadium on campus from 1926-1980 (team moved to Superdome in 1975, stadium was torn down 5 years later). They are bringing football back to campus in 2014, and let me tell you, it has been an ordeal. Like UM, Tulane is in a nice neighborhood, and the neighbors fought tooth and nail when Tulane expanded their baseball stadium to 6,000 a couple of years ago, and fought like ****, and even got a city council injunction to stop the football stadium. It was finally overturned because the mayor supported the stadium, and Tulane, but it's still going to be a fight. Coral Gables would do the same, if not more to stop it. Also, Tulane's stadium will open with only 30,000 seats with the opportunity to expand to as many, but not more than 45,000. It's also being done pretty cheap. They have $40 million raised and it will only cost about $60 million.

 

[Boarcane]

She's a worthless troll/

 

[CaneSuger]

I can't understand how she's so dismissive of our athletic traditions. We alumni who attended the U during our football heyday take a lot of pride in the football team. It's part of who we are as a university.

I see the loss of the Orange Bowl as a HUGE blunder that happened under her watch. That building meant a lot to so many, and I'm sure nobody on here would disagree with that. The city should have declared it a historic site. There must have been a way to save it. So many great memories were created in that building, and to see it torn down was a travesty reflective of neglectful and asinine leadership.

Where is our vaunted football program today? We play in a stadium despised by fans. We have had countless dolts line up as athletic directors. We have paid bottom dollar for coaching, and have seen the results on the field.

Now, we have embarrassing NCAA sanctions looming overhead.

Most pundits and talking heads expect us to be charged with "loss of institutional control." Well, who was supposed to be in charge of the institution? Say what you will, but the buck stops with Donna Shalala.

That's my 2 cents.

Yes she has done a great job getting our university more national recognition for our academics. She has had some success as a fundraiser.

This is one alumni that thinks she deserves an "F" for her job managing athletics, and I am not willing to let her off the hook.

Athletics do matter to this university.

i'm not sure how such a small amount of people here realize that the university of miami is, in fact, a university. the science building that is currently on campus is obsolete and the department is in desperate need of a new facility. she was hired to make the academics at the university better, first and foremost, and has done an unbelievable job doing so.

yes, it is true that the football team WAS (yes, i said it "WAS") responsible for bringing in a lot of attention and new students, but it ceased to be a predominant reason for enrollment when the program when down the crapper in the mid-late 2000s. i'll be the first to admit that football was a huge reason to come to miami when i enrolled in 06, but that sentiment has been severely reduced among the rest of the student body when we started to suck. football games are just an excuse to get drunk on saturdays now for a lot of students and you can tell by the student section emptying out at halftime at about every game. shalala is far more supportive of athletics than foote ever was and anyone who says she destroys programs conveniently don't count wisconsin's success academically and athletically during her time there.

i completely understand the frustration from the fanbase about the lack of performance and the decline of the program (i'm just as upset as anyone else here), but aside from going to a few games and buying some merchandise, most fans don't have a vested interest in the university. if the school were to close tomorrow, the most a lot of people would miss is the football team, and maybe baseball and basketball. for me, i would lose the value of my degrees and the school i call home, along with the team that i love more than anything. shalala's work in improving the school's academics mean far more to the students and alums and cannot be appreciated if you never benefited from them first-hand. her work in fundraising afforded me and countless others the opportunity to attend on scholarship (because there was no way i could afford paying full tuition) and get a quality education from a top-50 university.

oh and for everyone who thinks that highsmith is spiting her about the stadium? they're actually pretty good friends. View attachment 15945
that's them two together stopping by my table at homecoming. the stadium decision is not in her hands.

 

[Big Sky Cane]

These aren't mutually exclusive things

1. Stadium

versus

2. Academics

Look at Tulane and what they could do. I want the same thing but it doesn't need to be on campus (tropical park is great and I believe the school owns a bunch of vacant land but can't remember where).

Tulane Undergrad has less students than Miami, so a small private school serious about academics can build a stadium.

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/07/tulane_stadium_oked_by_new_orl.html

I graduated in 2007, I love Miami. We deserve our own 45,000 person stadium as a home.

I hope we hire an AD who makes this a priority. I wonder what Golden wants. I am not saying the trustees and admin are against this, I just don't think they realize its a possibility.

Golden would turn to legend status if he got a football stadium built. If Schnellenberger would have stuck around......we'd have a stadium.

 

[dookie blaylock]

I can't understand how she's so dismissive of our athletic traditions. We alumni who attended the U during our football heyday take a lot of pride in the football team. It's part of who we are as a university.

I see the loss of the Orange Bowl as a HUGE blunder that happened under her watch. That building meant a lot to so many, and I'm sure nobody on here would disagree with that. The city should have declared it a historic site. There must have been a way to save it. So many great memories were created in that building, and to see it torn down was a travesty reflective of neglectful and asinine leadership.

Where is our vaunted football program today? We play in a stadium despised by fans. We have had countless dolts line up as athletic directors. We have paid bottom dollar for coaching, and have seen the results on the field.

Now, we have embarrassing NCAA sanctions looming overhead.

Most pundits and talking heads expect us to be charged with "loss of institutional control." Well, who was supposed to be in charge of the institution? Say what you will, but the buck stops with Donna Shalala.

That's my 2 cents.

Yes she has done a great job getting our university more national recognition for our academics. She has had some success as a fundraiser.

This is one alumni that thinks she deserves an "F" for her job managing athletics, and I am not willing to let her off the hook.

Athletics do matter to this university.

i'm not sure how such a small amount of people here realize that the university of miami is, in fact, a university. the science building that is currently on campus is obsolete and the department is in desperate need of a new facility. she was hired to make the academics at the university better, first and foremost, and has done an unbelievable job doing so.

yes, it is true that the football team WAS (yes, i said it "WAS") responsible for bringing in a lot of attention and new students, but it ceased to be a predominant reason for enrollment when the program when down the crapper in the mid-late 2000s. i'll be the first to admit that football was a huge reason to come to miami when i enrolled in 06, but that sentiment has been severely reduced among the rest of the student body when we started to suck. football games are just an excuse to get drunk on saturdays now for a lot of students and you can tell by the student section emptying out at halftime at about every game. shalala is far more supportive of athletics than foote ever was and anyone who says she destroys programs conveniently don't count wisconsin's success academically and athletically during her time there.

i completely understand the frustration from the fanbase about the lack of performance and the decline of the program (i'm just as upset as anyone else here), but aside from going to a few games and buying some merchandise, most fans don't have a vested interest in the university. if the school were to close tomorrow, the most a lot of people would miss is the football team, and maybe baseball and basketball. for me, i would lose the value of my degrees and the school i call home, along with the team that i love more than anything. shalala's work in improving the school's academics mean far more to the students and alums and cannot be appreciated if you never benefited from them first-hand. her work in fundraising afforded me and countless others the opportunity to attend on scholarship (because there was no way i could afford paying full tuition) and get a quality education from a top-50 university.

oh and for everyone who thinks that highsmith is spiting her about the stadium? they're actually pretty good friends. View attachment 15945
that's them two together stopping by my table at homecoming. the stadium decision is not in her hands.

first off, managing athletics is not her job. that's the athletic director's job. i discussed the orange bowl with paul dee about 2 weeks before he died and as much as he loved the orange bowl, there was nothing he could do to keep it. the stadium was literally falling apart at the seams and the city wanted us to pay for renovations entirely. we had already been sued for concrete falling on a spectator and a lack of safety measures that allowed another person to fall from the upper deck ramps after a game.

do you know what our lease details were for the ob? we got nothing but ticket revenue. the city of miami took all of the parking revenue, concession revenue, and the lease money. the lease at sunlife (and yes, i HATE sunlife with a passion) was the only thing that made any sense financially for the university because we make concession revenue along with ticket revenue and premium seating. the city already knew that it was going to put marlins park over the ob site thanks to some very ethically questionable moves by both city leadership and the marlins organization. the university had no shot at playing there ever again. that's not a blunder by shalala or dee. it was a methodically planned move by the city and the marlins that gave us zero chances to keep it.

as for impending ncaa sanctions? loss of institutional control would be ludicrous given the situations at penn state and unc and how they were handled. furthermore, the actions of a booster are in no way, shape, or form her responsibility. that's for the compliance office and athletics to look into.

not sure if you kept up with off the field matters with the school, but to call eichorst a dolt is pretty ignorant. not only did he get jim larranaga to come here and coach a second-rate basketball team, he managed to keep golden here after allegations and even extend him to the end of the decade. most importantly, under his watch the ncaa singled us out as a model for compliance and cooperation with investigators.

if she spent all of her time looking at what a booster and her athletes are doing, she's not doing her job. if she sat and micromanaged how to get the football program up and running again, she's not doing her job. you're more than entitled to your opinion, but the fact of the matter is that she is doing what she was hired to do as a university president.

 

[CaneSuger]

Who does the athletic director work for? Who hires/fires athletic directors?

Who does the AD go to for his annual performance review? Who sets his budget? Who sets the tone and direction, and who provides the vision of where she wants the university to go?

Paul Dee was a failure. He inherited one of the finest athletic programs in the country, and it withered on the vine during his tenure.

The worst of the Shapiro allegations are said to have happened under his watch.

His two football hires, Coker and Shannon, were fired due to a lack of results.

Football attendance dropped under his tenure.

The Orange Bowl was one of his biggest failures. I am simply not buying that there was nothing either Dee or Shalala could have done to save the stadium.

Neither Dee nor Shalala showed any leadership on the issue. They simply caved to the Marlins and to the city, and never put up a fight.

I will grant you this: you seem to have more inside knowledge than I do regarding the inner workings of the situation, but I am telling you how it appears to me.

I'm an alumnus. My phone never rang asking for a donation for any Orange Bowl renovation fund. Nobody called to remind me to contact my local representatives regarding the stadium.

In fact, the only communication I got from Shalala and company was a sales pitch on how great Sun Life was going to be for us. There was simply no leadership, and no apparent interest on her part in saving the stadium.

I can't understand how she's so dismissive of our athletic traditions. We alumni who attended the U during our football heyday take a lot of pride in the football team. It's part of who we are as a university.

I see the loss of the Orange Bowl as a HUGE blunder that happened under her watch. That building meant a lot to so many, and I'm sure nobody on here would disagree with that. The city should have declared it a historic site. There must have been a way to save it. So many great memories were created in that building, and to see it torn down was a travesty reflective of neglectful and asinine leadership.

Where is our vaunted football program today? We play in a stadium despised by fans. We have had countless dolts line up as athletic directors. We have paid bottom dollar for coaching, and have seen the results on the field.

Now, we have embarrassing NCAA sanctions looming overhead.

Most pundits and talking heads expect us to be charged with "loss of institutional control." Well, who was supposed to be in charge of the institution? Say what you will, but the buck stops with Donna Shalala.

That's my 2 cents.

Yes she has done a great job getting our university more national recognition for our academics. She has had some success as a fundraiser.

This is one alumni that thinks she deserves an "F" for her job managing athletics, and I am not willing to let her off the hook.

Athletics do matter to this university.

i'm not sure how such a small amount of people here realize that the university of miami is, in fact, a university. the science building that is currently on campus is obsolete and the department is in desperate need of a new facility. she was hired to make the academics at the university better, first and foremost, and has done an unbelievable job doing so.

yes, it is true that the football team WAS (yes, i said it "WAS") responsible for bringing in a lot of attention and new students, but it ceased to be a predominant reason for enrollment when the program when down the crapper in the mid-late 2000s. i'll be the first to admit that football was a huge reason to come to miami when i enrolled in 06, but that sentiment has been severely reduced among the rest of the student body when we started to suck. football games are just an excuse to get drunk on saturdays now for a lot of students and you can tell by the student section emptying out at halftime at about every game. shalala is far more supportive of athletics than foote ever was and anyone who says she destroys programs conveniently don't count wisconsin's success academically and athletically during her time there.

i completely understand the frustration from the fanbase about the lack of performance and the decline of the program (i'm just as upset as anyone else here), but aside from going to a few games and buying some merchandise, most fans don't have a vested interest in the university. if the school were to close tomorrow, the most a lot of people would miss is the football team, and maybe baseball and basketball. for me, i would lose the value of my degrees and the school i call home, along with the team that i love more than anything. shalala's work in improving the school's academics mean far more to the students and alums and cannot be appreciated if you never benefited from them first-hand. her work in fundraising afforded me and countless others the opportunity to attend on scholarship (because there was no way i could afford paying full tuition) and get a quality education from a top-50 university.

oh and for everyone who thinks that highsmith is spiting her about the stadium? they're actually pretty good friends. View attachment 15945
that's them two together stopping by my table at homecoming. the stadium decision is not in her hands.

first off, managing athletics is not her job. that's the athletic director's job. i discussed the orange bowl with paul dee about 2 weeks before he died and as much as he loved the orange bowl, there was nothing he could do to keep it. the stadium was literally falling apart at the seams and the city wanted us to pay for renovations entirely. we had already been sued for concrete falling on a spectator and a lack of safety measures that allowed another person to fall from the upper deck ramps after a game.

do you know what our lease details were for the ob? we got nothing but ticket revenue. the city of miami took all of the parking revenue, concession revenue, and the lease money. the lease at sunlife (and yes, i HATE sunlife with a passion) was the only thing that made any sense financially for the university because we make concession revenue along with ticket revenue and premium seating. the city already knew that it was going to put marlins park over the ob site thanks to some very ethically questionable moves by both city leadership and the marlins organization. the university had no shot at playing there ever again. that's not a blunder by shalala or dee. it was a methodically planned move by the city and the marlins that gave us zero chances to keep it.

as for impending ncaa sanctions? loss of institutional control would be ludicrous given the situations at penn state and unc and how they were handled. furthermore, the actions of a booster are in no way, shape, or form her responsibility. that's for the compliance office and athletics to look into.

not sure if you kept up with off the field matters with the school, but to call eichorst a dolt is pretty ignorant. not only did he get jim larranaga to come here and coach a second-rate basketball team, he managed to keep golden here after allegations and even extend him to the end of the decade. most importantly, under his watch the ncaa singled us out as a model for compliance and cooperation with investigators.

if she spent all of her time looking at what a booster and her athletes are doing, she's not doing her job. if she sat and micromanaged how to get the football program up and running again, she's not doing her job. you're more than entitled to your opinion, but the fact of the matter is that she is doing what she was hired to do as a university president.