Division III Wabash College football stadium upgrades....

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TJames

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A $6.2 million project to upgrade the football, baseball, soccer, and intramural facilities at Wabash College is underway.

The project, announced in March by President Patrick White, shows the continued commitment by Wabash College to provide first-class facilities not only for its students in the classroom, but also for those looking to stay physically fit through collegiate, intramural, and recreational sports. Read about President White’s announcement and see renderings of the final projects here.
Mud Hollow, where baseball has been played for 50 consecutive years, will soon become the new playing field for the Wabash soccer team with synthetic turf, permanent seating, a press box, and restrooms. The Hollow will also have two additional fields to be used for practice for the football team, as well as intramural sports.
Baseball will compete next season in the grassy lot on the southwest side of the Allen Center. Formerly the site of practice football fields, the baseball stadium will include permanent seating, batting cages, bullpens, a press box, a concession and restroom complex, and new scoreboard.
Finally, the playing surface at Byron P. Hollett Little Giant Stadium will be upgraded from grass to synthetic turf.
The first phase of the project began Monday, as concrete was poured to build a bridge for bulldozers and heavy equipment to safely cross the J Owen Huntsman Outdoor Track. The machinery will be used to start plowing up the football field in preparation for the new turf field. The removal of sod will begin Monday, weather permitting.
Project manager Mike Stolle said multiple layers will be added to the base of the field before turf is finally set, including sand, gravel and rubber. The improvements to the football field will be completed by August 1, just in time for Coach Erik Raeburn and the Little Giants to begin the 2010 campaign.
Construction of the baseball stadium is set to begin in several weeks and run through the fall.
 

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???????????? Oh well, another well-funded private school builds some new facilities. No disrespect Tom, but I'd rather read more of your stories about ISU history.
 
Well, maybe Wabash grads do make more; but State graduates ~10x more than Wabash does on an annual basis.

The March On! campaign has a goal of $85M --- that's ~$1,200 per graduate...

Great for Wabash to do this --- Hopefully everyone is finding a way to support State outside of this forum and MBB, FBall and other sports attendance.

Not that it's relevant -- do we lose many (any) football players TO Wabash?
 
Wabash has a culture of giving back to the school...it is expected as well as a culture of seeking major gifts and donors from outside their alumni base. Local businesses for example. That culture has never existed at ISU...never...up until this campaign. That is the reason that Wabash, DePauw, Hanover, Rose Hulman, SMWC, etc. all have pretty nice facilities (in many cases) because they are accustomed to cultivating relationships and the expectation that their alumni will give back to the institution.
It is a cultural thing
 
Wabash has a culture of giving back to the school...it is expected as well as a culture of seeking major gifts and donors from outside their alumni base. Local businesses for example. That culture has never existed at ISU...never...up until this campaign. That is the reason that Wabash, DePauw, Hanover, Rose Hulman, SMWC, etc. all have pretty nice facilities (in many cases) because they are accustomed to cultivating relationships and the expectation that their alumni will give back to the institution.
It is a cultural thing
I agree with this. On top of having poor organizational culture, ISU has had numerous people with terrible business sense in important positions. I'm probably going to get some hate mail about this one, but until State starts hiring candidates that have skills/experience/ideas to bring to the table over trying to meet other agendas, they're going to continue having an apathetic student and alum population because everything starts at the top.

For example... I know this guy who wants to work for State. As an undergrad, he worked in various departments on campus. After he graduated, he left a better job to come back and work with ResLife because of his love for State and desire to have a career there. Finally, he had to move on as he had a couple kids and needed a bigger paycheck to support his family since ISU didn't have any advancement opportunities.

He has tried to seek employment with ISU several times now but has continually been passed over. The last time he was passed over, the individual hired had a similar resume and no ties to ISU -- but she was a female. You've got ISU alumni that have a passion and love for the University, that would likely be employee lifers and they can't get a foot in the door? For the sake of making your EOE stats look better?

These kind of stories are common and is the reason why my checkbook remains closed.
 

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hey jason....i hear you man.....lol....

i was the interim sports information director at indiana state something loike three times.....i was good enough to be the fill-in guy....but not good enough to be the regular sports information guy....they don't like to promote from within....for whatever reason.....

i would love to be back at isu......but......nothing there open for me.....lol.......
 
The biggest difference...

I agree with this. On top of having poor organizational culture, ISU has had numerous people with terrible business sense in important positions. I'm probably going to get some hate mail about this one, but until State starts hiring candidates that have skills/experience/ideas to bring to the table over trying to meet other agendas, they're going to continue having an apathetic student and alum population because everything starts at the top.

For example... I know this guy who wants to work for State. As an undergrad, he worked in various departments on campus. After he graduated, he left a better job to come back and work with ResLife because of his love for State and desire to have a career there. Finally, he had to move on as he had a couple kids and needed a bigger paycheck to support his family since ISU didn't have any advancement opportunities.

He has tried to seek employment with ISU several times now but has continually been passed over. The last time he was passed over, the individual hired had a similar resume and no ties to ISU -- but she was a female. You've got ISU alumni that have a passion and love for the University, that would likely be employee lifers and they can't get a foot in the door? For the sake of making your EOE stats look better?

These kind of stories are common and is the reason why my checkbook remains closed.

other than the aforementioned 'cultural' differences...

Private colleges are exactly that -- private. They have the ability / flexibility to do certain things (non-athletic scholies, hiring, firing, pay, benefits, etc) that public colleges cannot.

Now, Boda is smack-on --- State needs a SEISMIC shift in the administration and by seismic, I mean, they need to go (and NOT to a different department/office, etc) They need to GO out of the system.
It's not much different in the military or federal civilian workforce; they'll 're-organize' by renaming VICE the purging of personnel or workers.

I don't believe that the public sector has much on the private sector; it's just that in the private sector, it can be easier (depending on the state) and the company.
 
other than the aforementioned 'cultural' differences...

Private colleges are exactly that -- private. They have the ability / flexibility to do certain things (non-athletic scholies, hiring, firing, pay, benefits, etc) that public colleges cannot.

Now, Boda is smack-on --- State needs a SEISMIC shift in the administration and by seismic, I mean, they need to go (and NOT to a different department/office, etc) They need to GO out of the system.
It's not much different in the military or federal civilian workforce; they'll 're-organize' by renaming VICE the purging of personnel or workers.

I don't believe that the public sector has much on the private sector; it's just that in the private sector, it can be easier (depending on the state) and the company.


I agree that there should be hiring of individuals from outside of ISU. That is without question in my book...but hiring someone from outside ISU just for the sake of hiring someone from outside ISU is not a good practice. Just because someone went to school or worked at Bowling Green State University (for example) doesn't mean their experience, skills or knowledge are better simply because they fit that overly used and impossible to define term of "diversity". The best person for the job should be hired taking into consideration all factors and not placing more weight on certain agenda items. I do think that DB is changing things and is holding staff and administrators accountable so I am seeing that shift you talk about...problem being it is a big ship, it takes a while to change course!:sycamores:

I just re-read your post and I think I got it confused....you mean that some need to leave ISU and be replaced by new blood, right?
 
i was the interim sports information director at indiana state something loike three times.....i was good enough to be the fill-in guy....but not good enough to be the regular sports information guy....they don't like to promote from within....for whatever reason.....

i would love to be back at isu......but......nothing there open for me.....lol.......

Just for the sake of saying it......

If ISU won't hire from within (which they don't do often) and they have less faith in their own product than they have in other products (other schools), then why should the private sector have faith in the ISU product? Just askin'
 
my whole feeling on change in personnel.....

at indiana state university...is having people who want to be at indiana state university....there is a culture in the city....embrace it....some people who work at bigger schools....can't get the feel for a smaller school......i want people there who like being there...who WANT to be there.....they tend to bring in people....who have huge egos...who just can't wait to leave....have no loyalty to the university....

i want to see people there who get it...who see the bigger picture....who want the university as a whole to get better....not just their little kingdom.....

as we say in athletics, i want to see "WE" people...not "ME" people.......or...the name on the front of the jersey or uniform is much more important than the name on the back of the jersey......

i want to see isu hire people who think isu first and foremost.....as a complete university...and not just a bunch of different educational and athletic departments taking up space on the campus.....

educational departments and the athletic department...especially football....can successfully co-exist......

is that too much to ask nowadays?....i certainly hope not.......
 

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can't tell you how many times I have heard this occur at ISU,

1.Student says to another (2)student, "we lost again" speaking about a game
Student #2 says, "what is this "we" stuff, I'm not on the team!"

That mentality kills me. We, meaning all of ISU wins together, loses together, gets budgets cut together, etc. Makes lame commercials together...lol.
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Obviously there are two legitimate sides to the argument of hiring from within or bringing in someone away from the university. Without doing any research at all, I can show you success stories on either side. John Newton and Ron Prettyman are classic success stories on BOTH sides of the ledger. John was born and raised, so to speak, at ISU and Ron was a total outsider and both, IMO, are excellent employees with stellar accomplishments.

The opposite argument can be made that if Denny Raetz was hired as Athletic Director, as much as I love Denny and know his capabilities, I am not sure he would have been the right hire in lieu of RP. Dr. Ramey might not have had the success that Dr. Bradley is having.

I was once offered a very well-paying job at the university and unfortunately chose not to accept it. Looking back, I might not have been the right choice anyway for that position. Currently, I would love to go back and work there now, and for much less money but despite my unbelievable dedication to the school, I too, as others have found out, don't really have a chance to work there, even for a reasonable price.

So bottom line, there may not be a right or a wrong answer to that question. It certainly would be a interesting discussuion over a beer or two at the Ballyhoo some time~
 
Back to the point of this thread....

Wabash can do these things because they have a culture of giving back...it is expected of their alums...not so much at ISU. "we" relied on state support for sooooo long that we have to create that culture now...it is going to take some time, perhaps a generation to change that mentality at ISU
 
Back to the point of this thread....

Wabash can do these things because they have a culture of giving back...it is expected of their alums...not so much at ISU. "we" relied on state support for sooooo long that we have to create that culture now...it is going to take some time, perhaps a generation to change that mentality at ISU
Sorry, Sack. I guess I did drift from the original thought. I must not have recovered from all that sun on Sunday at the track~
 

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...I do think that DB is changing things and is holding staff and administrators accountable so I am seeing that shift you talk about...problem being it is a big ship, it takes a while to change course!:sycamores:

I just re-read your post and I think I got it confused....you mean that some need to leave ISU and be replaced by new blood, right?

Yes -- NEW BLOOD!
 
Are they the 'new' Blue Berets??
When I saw their pictures, that is EXACTLY what my first thought was. I would suppose they were somewhat based on that concept, although I wouldn't thought the same thing about the "Student Alumni Association" that they replaced. A week ago, one of the Ambassador's took 20 or so of my brothers on a tour of the campus, (and did a great job, btw) so who knows! Maybe a mixture of both~
 
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