Committee 

December 1–4, 2010

Axel Grabowsky ’60 opened the meeting by welcoming all participants and thanking Robert “Cep” Ceplikas ’78 for his outstanding stewardship as acting director of athletics and recreation for more than a year.

Harry Sheehy, the new AD, led off with remarks that amplified and added to the points he raised at dinner the night before and followed-up with a free-wheeling Q&A session. His immediate challenge, he said, is to both improve the success of Dartmouth’s teams and to make sports at Dartmouth as broad-based as possible while absorbing the decreases in the athletic budget, which are in line with the belt-tightening in all areas of the College. “[But] there is no excuse for mediocrity … and there must be excellence across [the entire spectrum of] sports,” he said. Sheehy intends to ensure that every athletic program, major and minor, has the opportunity to be successful. But athletic success is not the only measure — every coach must not only produce competitive teams consistently, but also teach life-long skills that transcend sports. He believes that Dartmouth is very fortunate that President Kim “wants an outstanding athletic profile” for the College. Sheehy also commented on the excellent relationship that the athletics department maintains with the admissions and financial aid office and, in particular, with its dean, Maria Laskaris ’84.

A panel discussion about the impact of athletics on student life, moderated by Sheehy, introduced six exciting and enthusiastic speakers: Martha Johnson Beattie ’76 P’07 P’09, currently coaching women’s crew while a coach is on maternity leave and a varsity rower as an undergraduate; John Carey, government professor and department chair and academic advisor to the men’s hockey and soccer teams; Katie Horner ’11, varsity women’s hockey captain and president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee; Tim McManus ’11, varsity football captain; Tom Sheridan ’11, men’s rugby club president; and Yuhan Xue ’13, women’s club basketball and intramural athlete.

The overwhelming impression from the panelists is that the impact of athletics on student life is significant in spite of the many competitive demands on students’ time. The infectious enthusiasm of the student panelists was another overwhelming impression. Katie Horner talked about how well rounded Dartmouth’s athletes and non-athletes are and how much this is fostered by the College. The D Plan, she believes, is particularly helpful in that respect. She also commented on the pre-football-game BBQs last season, which apparently had a healthy influence on game attendance for football and other sports. Tim McManus persuasively asserted that the football program has been turned around and, while there is a ways to go yet, 2011 will see further significant improvement. Tom Sheridan said the rugby program is mostly student run and thereby provides many opportunities for independent learning and responsibility. He also pointed to the consistent — more than 50 years now! — success of the program. Yuhan Xue spoke about the importance of athletics to all students as a balance to academics, which is especially important to those who do not engage in organized competitive sports. Martha Beattie compared the impact of sports of 30 years ago and today and found little difference: athletics and their pursuit had a lasting effect on her life and is likely to have the same effect on today’s student-athletes. John Carey explained the many-layered functions of an academic advisor to a team and the importance of balancing academic and athletic success.

Brian Austin, executive associate athletic director for varsity sports, provided the varsity update. The highlights were the first winning football season in 13 years, women’s soccer second place in the Ivy League, men’s soccer reaching the NCAA Sweet 16, second place in the Heptagonals for the men’s cross country runners and fast starts for the men’s and women’s hockey teams, both already ranked nationally.

Roger Demment, senior associate AD for physical education and recreation, reviewed club sports. The highlights were men’s rugby’s 11th Ivy title in 14 years, women’s rugby’s invitation to the Nationals, men’s club soccer Ivy Championship and second place in New England, the New England championship for the club tennis team (coed), the Ivy League championship in men’s Ultimate, andsecond place in the inaugural Ivy Tournament for women’s Ultimate.

Richard Whitmore, the associate AD for facilities and operations briefly discussed the only two immediate projects in his area: an on-campus softball facility (modeled very much on the new baseball field) and a number of basketball-connected upgrades. Other projects in the pipeline are additional indoor practice facilities, expanded sports medicine areas, improvements to Thompson Arena, the replacement of the west stands of the football stadium, the Hanover Country Club clubhouse replacement and equipment room needs.

Ceplikas, now deputy director of athletics, brought athletic fundraising to the fore. In FY’09 Dartmouth was dead last in raising money for its football program. In December 2009, Ceplikas, then acting athletic director, explained our funding disadvantage, which expressed itself in recruiting (inability for coaches to travel extensively or bring promising high school football players to Hanover) and in lack of manpower, which tied up coaches with administrative work. Under Ceplikas’ aegis a dedicated crew of alumni did a remarkable job in FY’10 and outraised every one of our Ivy competitors.

There’s a new website of the Friends of Dartmouth Football at www.fodf.org. To see clips from the soccer victory over Notre Dame (ninth in the nation) go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0IDXpOTsAE. From there links take you to other athletic (and non-athletic) videos.