To me, I see our issue as philosophy and culture. I’ve said “culture” until it’s a worn out record album, but it’s more than athletics: it’s about mission, vision, and purpose. Our brand has been relegated to a regional university as opposed to a nationally branded university. Sure, Doctor Sidney A. McPhee promotes us to sister universities in China, Japan, South Africa, or wherever his travels takes him with his contacts, but these are specialty programs and not for the betterment of the holistic university. That is what we’ve become, a generalist university with a few spotlight programs such as RIMS, Fermentation Science, Concrete Management, and the like. In the meantime, MT has dismissed ideals of advanced doctoral programs and raising the bar on Masters programs to where we have standing equal to or better than flagship institutions across the country. It’s easier to operate as a college for teacher education as opposed to having one dedicated to science, fine arts, law, or humanities at an internationally recognized level. It’s clear Excellence is lacking.
For years we dealt with inadequate funding from the state level and under directives the Grier Lawsuit called for over 35 years. Those miscues and roadblocks have sown the seeds of today. Our alumni primarily hails from the Middle Tennessee area, namely Rutherford and Davidson Counties. I believe 2-3 Tennessee counties have living alumni in the single digits; that’s bad salesmanship. We operate much closer to an APSU footprint versus being a Michigan State or Oklahoma State (I have relatives who are graduates of each) and believe me perception turns into reality when it comes to jobs, industry connections, and loyalties. MT over the decades has been inconsistent in attracting high net worth individuals to give to MTSU Foundation...our endowment growth is horrendous considering it’s been around since 1961. The world our university should operate in is in the multiple billions, not a paltry $115 million or so (last number I’ve heard, maybe there’s a little more?). Our alumni base is relatively poor and/or disengaged when looking at the entire body. Marshall University, our conference mate, is dealing with essentially the same funding issue versus West Virginia University in a state with a 1.5 million population that is declining each year (for instance, Huntington WV has about 51,000 down from 89,000 in the 1970s). Murfreesboro has grown to over 142,000 versus 26,370 in the same time—49 years. But, the operative question is why can’t we attract more sponsors and donors to do the big things?
I’ll submit that it’s until the MT Board, Governor, or University President, mandate a change in philosophy or culture, it will not materially change. There are too many who are content with being an undergraduate focused university with a relatively low budget athletic program. It’s sad that when we do earn success by accident, it’s short lived (e.g Kermit Davis) because coaches move to greener pastures as opposed to building loyalty in Murfreesboro and MT. We have so many resources to build from, but too much effort and money has been wasted for it to have had the impact it should have for the region. That’s why many fans over the years have chosen to cut support or move on to other worthwhile projects. We don’t have the cheerleaders that can generate the millions we need, it takes too many $500 and $1,000 donors to get the base to where it’s needed.
