Comments on: Maisel: UT Administration Has Used Athletic Department “As An ATM”

By: CDarwin

CDarwin — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 08:30:52 +0000

I think the academic issue at UT was that there were specific standards that athletes were being held to that were higher than anywhere else in the SEC. Vanderbilt’s academic reputation is certainly gaudy, but that doesn’t mean that every athlete there is being held to a particularly high standard for admittance. As a private university, they probably have the most leeway of any in the SEC in admitting players.

By: SEC fan

SEC fan — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 01:50:22 +0000

@dynamitefan2
This whole Vandy academics thing is a joke! My friend played football for Vandy after 2 years in the 5th grade, graduating #78 in our senior class of 120 with a 2.8 GPA and took classes at Peabody like Health and Music Appreciation in which he simply had to show up until they took role and then he left. So give me a break with this whole Vanderbilt education nonsense because it is a HOAX!!

By: db20207

db20207 — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:48:23 +0000

To be fair, the reason UT’s athletic department has little to no emergency cash fund is because they are paying fired coaches and administrators, fan apathy has lead to a lack of ticket sales, and decided to fund a multimillion dollar practice facility. Sure the academic contribution is a big part of that, but it’s not like it is an unexpected cost. Also, it’s not like Tennessee is the only athletic department forced to contribute to the academic side of things. Contributing factor? Absolutely. Sole cause? No way.

As an aside is it really too much to ask that an athletic department bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars contribute to the academic side of things?

By: dynamitefan2

dynamitefan2 — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:41:18 +0000

“Harvard of the Smokies” love that comment. UT using academics as an excuse for poor sports teams while Vandy continues to rise in all sports is funny to me. Maybe the NCAA investigations played a part in that. As a Tennessee taxpayer I’m actually glad the athletic department is funding academics.

Vandy is finally doing the opposite they are starting to use that huge bank account on the academic side and funding the athletics department..