Baylor's new take on athletics...

[NickSMU17]

Baylor University President Ken Starr says winning sports teams are crucial
Posted Friday, Jul. 09, 2010

By DIANE SMITH

[email protected]

FORT WORTH -- New Baylor University President Ken Starr spent his first two weeks on the job immersed in the drama of the Big 12 athletic realignment.

The brouhaha highlights the importance of athletics to universities, Starr said after speaking to the Rotary Club of Fort Worth at its luncheon Friday.

Winning athletic programs help raise endowment dollars, he said, pointing to TCU's success in generating donations during winning football and baseball seasons.

"Success breeds success," Starr said. "Any university president would say athletic success breeds success more broadly."

But now that the Big 12 dust has settled, Starr said, he is dedicating himself to other ways of raising endowments to help pay for more scholarships -- one way of letting students gain access to higher education despite rising costs.

"There has been no alternative to raising tuitions even at state institutions," Starr told the Rotarians. "Costs keep rising. Programs must be improved."

Tuition for undergraduates at Baylor for 2010-11 is about $27,000. Tuition at TCU will be $30,000 next year.

Starr, a fifth-generation Texan, became the 14th president of the flagship Baptist university in Waco on June 1, leaving Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., where he had been dean of the law school since 2004.

A former appellate judge and solicitor general of the United States, Starr is best-known as the independent counsel whose investigation of President Bill Clinton led to his impeachment. Clinton was not convicted.

Starr said his move from Washington into higher education was natural. "My vision is one of energy, creativity and to build upon the great foundations," he said.

[RGV Pony]

"Success breeds success," Starr said. "Any university president would say athletic success breeds success more broadly."

There must have been an error slip by the editors. I'm sure Starr meant to say "the majority of university presidents.."

[Samurai Stang]

Too bad we are not using the Baylor model.