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As anybody who has followed University of Hawaii sports for a while can tell you, committees have often been the bane of the place.
There have been committees to hire coaches, committees to pick athletic directors, committees to decide on nicknames, mascots and logos and, well, it sometimes seems, committees to study or form even more committees.
So when UH President David Lassner announced at the Board of Regents meeting the creation of a 14-member “blue ribbon” committee of stakeholders to “provide strategic vision and advice for the future of UH Manoa athletics,” it understandably didn’t generate much excitement.
But, if you are UH, there has not been a better time in the past 20 years in which to take a step back and invite a fresh, top-to-bottom look at where the athletic program stands and where it is going. Or, to seek additional perspectives from a wide-ranging group on how it might best get there.
Whenever this pandemic ends — and it will, someday, won’t it? — it is going to present a vastly changed landscape. One with new opportunities and challenges that UH, the NCAA’s most far-flung Division I program with 21 teams spread across four conferences, needs to anticipate and be prepared to confront.
What we already know, as Lassner pointed out in his statement, is that, “UH Manoa alone cannot support the program as-is and must take action to bring revenues and expenses into alignment.”
Lassner said “The advisory committee is being asked to assess the current UH Manoa athletics program and identify an achievable and sustainable future. We need to find ways that address current and foreseen challenges and opportunities so the program can continue to benefit the community and UH.”
He wasn’t just talking about the projected COVID-19 driven $9.3 million deficit for the current fiscal year, which is in line, and even less than the red ink in which many of UH’s peers are awash.
The model has been broken before we ever heard of COVID-19, running up $13.6 million in accumulated net deficits according to the fiscal 2019 auditor’s report. Contributing to that were both UH’s unique costs, including travel, and its struggle to raise contributions.
One of the problems is that top decision-makers have never really sat down and put a price on what a successful UH athletic program means to the state and university, from the money it brings in to the visibility and aspirational values it provides.
The late U.S. and state Rep. K. Mark Takai, a former UH athlete, was a proponent of the state putting a realistic dollar figure on contributions and also giving athletic department the tools and incentive to go out and enhance its own fundraising.
The goal of this committee, athletic director David Matlin said, “Is (to provide) fresh eyes, to get some people that are strategic minds in the room and analyze the situation that we are in now and get some good advice and some thoughts from them as we move forward.”
All of that by the end of the year.
If it can do that while helping provide a blueprint to successfully launch UH into the post-pandemic period, then it will be one of the few “blue ribbon” committees convened there.
UH “Blue Ribbon” Committee members
Laura Beeman (Wahine basketball coach), Michael Bruno (UH-Manoa provost), Leslie Campaniano (Hartung Brothers Hawaii), Tim Dolan (UH Vice President of Advancement), Susan Eichor (COO, aio), Art Gladstone (Executive VP, Hawaii Pacific Health), Warren Haruki (President and CEO, Grove Farm Co.), Denis Isono (Ex-Ahahui Koa Anuenue Chair), David Matlin (UH AD), Randy Perreira (HGEA Executive Director), Scott Sinnett (UH Manoa Athletics Faculty Advisor Representative), Kent Untermann (UH Manoa graduate and former football player), Kent Youel (UH Foundation Board of Trustees), Kalbert Young (UH Vice President Budget and Finance/CFO).
Source: UH.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
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