SMU Alum letter to Turner

[PonySnob]

Interesting letter sent to worldwide Facebook group for SMU by Bob King:


The text of my letter to President Turner follows. I think it's time SMU alums quit jonesing for a win over TCU and start to worry about the national perception of our degrees.

I love college athletics, and I never thought I would arrive at the conclusion that it is time for SMU to drop D1 athletics. But the reputation of our academic credentials is increasingly at stake.

I don't expect many to agree, and in fact I expect a lot to belittle this opinion. But this point of view must be considered. If the only people who Mr. Turner listens to are the big dollar donors with suites at Ford Stadium or at Moody Coliseum, our sheepskins become less and less valuable.

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Dear President Turner,

This will be as brief as I am capable of being because you have better things to do than to read long letters from alums who are not major donors.

Proud though I am of my SMU degrees, I am beyond weary of the need to defend my alma mater’s reputation. The predominant impression of SMU around the country is not about superior academics. It is that we put athletics first, cannot stop ourselves from cheating, and are nonetheless unsuccessful. After finally becoming athletically relevant in something, this latest fiasco reinforces the idea everywhere that SMU is synonymous with NCAA scandal.

The tempting defense that the NCAA enforces the rules selectively is not helpful. Even if it is true that others have behaved worse yet received lesser punishment (and I believe that is an undeniable fact), such arguments fail to defend the value of my SMU degrees. Falling back on that argument, in fact, devalues it further.

This latest debacle should tell us two things: first, we still can't win at the D1 level without cheating; and second, we are not the kind of program that the NCAA will allow to cheat and get away with it. Rather than cite the injustice and spend decades fighting a losing battle, why don’t we admit that, for whatever reasons, we can’t be competitive in D1 sports with integrity? It’s just a fact that is increasingly obvious to everybody outside of University Park.

I would be prouder of SMU (and probably contribute more to the university) if we withdrew from D1 sports and reinvested all that energy into making SMU academically comparable to Vanderbilt or Tulane or Emory. In 1979 I turned down a full scholarship at TCU to attend SMU with minimal scholarship support. Why? Because SMU was, then, so obviously a better school than TCU. I’m not sure we can say the same thing now.

This is just one alum’s opinion, but I would rather we focus on making SMU a leaps and bounds better academic institution than TCU than spend all that energy trying to beat the Frogs on the playing field. Thirty years of fighting this losing battle is enough.

Sincerely,

Bob King
BA '82, MBA '83


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[coloradoStang]

maybe this one guy would pay more but I bet a ton more alumns would stop giving

[RGV Pony]

Yes let's become Trinity U or Austin College

[East Coast Mustang]

Applications would plummet and Baylor and TCU would catch and surpass us in all national rankings.

Bob King is an idiot

[Pony Boss]

Hahahahahhahahhahahahahahhahahahahhahahahhaha what a joke. No one would give and SMU would not be better academically. What an idiot.

[whitwiki]

When did Vanderbilt and Tulane drop d1 sports?

[Topper]

I understand the emotions that went into writing this letter. If my math is correct, men's football and basketball have been hit with major infractions 6 times since the early 70s. I guess we lead the world in penalties. I am completely fatigued by the whole thing.

On the other hand, I know that we are far from being as dirty as so many very successful programs that go un-investigated. I live in a city with such a program. Put me firmly in the camp that believes that many of our problems with the NCAA stem from the fact that they are unscrupulous guardians of the big money machines who have to make an example of someone, and they are not afraid to bully programs like ours because we have continually refused to fight them. The media down here in Austin is portraying us as serial cheaters and incapable of running a clean program. We are constantly under the microscope because of our history despite the fact that the administrations and coaching staffs turn over year after year. The concept of repeat violator is self perpetuating. You do not become a repeat violator if no one ever investigates your program or refuses to take allegations against your program seriously. Ask Eric Dickerson about UT.

[Pony Boss]

Son of Ken Pye.

[skyscraper]

I had to restrain myself from answering on facebook.
So much idiocy

[KWhiz77]

Waste

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

The reason TCU and Baylor are better schools now is because their applications have gone through the roof - because of athletics.

[RebStang]

The reason TCU and Baylor are better schools now is because their applications have gone through the roof - because of athletics.

They still aren't "better"... their student quality is still significantly lower despite the increased applications.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

The reason TCU and Baylor are better schools now is because their applications have gone through the roof - because of athletics.

They still aren't "better"... their student quality is still significantly lower despite the increased applications.

Better meaning better than they were, not better than SMU,

[SMU_Alumni11]

Is it wrong of me to think lets just drop Bob King from the list of Alums and tell him to take a hike? I mean I would donate money to SMU if Turner told him that. Truly if SMU dropped D1 sports, I would stop donating and contribute to a university that has a spine one which Bob looks to be lacking.

[78pony]

Dear Bob.

Let's see, your 20+ years out of school fretting over the clout your degree carries because of ncaa issues?

In the interest of being civil let me just say I'm thrilled I don't know or associate with you so as not to have to defend a friend who thinks as you do.

My self-esteem is just fine and I place just as much - if not more - value in my SMU degree today as I did some 37 years ago. I emotionally "locked arms" with SMU and all of our athletic programs back then and that was for better or worse.

So Bob, hope the Mustang Club can count on that check of yours and season ticket orders again next year(s).