Athletic Director's Corner
PostPosted:Mon Sep 07, 2020 11:23 am
Below is a copy of Jason’s most recent update on the status of Furman athletics. You can locate the posting at https://furmanpaladins.com/sports/2019/ ... orner.aspx .
If you read nothing else in the below, please note in his last paragraph the sentence that reads “Please know that our Furman Athletics staff is always available to answer any questions you may have.“ I hope those on this board that have been so critical of Jason and President Davis have called one or both of them to communicate it. If not, suggest you do so. Otherwise, they will not have the benefit of your expertise.
"Dear Furman Family,
I hope this letter finds you and your families in good health and in good spirits during this challenging time.
It has been a year since I was honored to assume the role of your director of athletics, and my family and I sincerely appreciate the warm welcome that you have shown us, the great friendships that we have formed, and the strong sense of community that exists around our university. I knew I was coming to a special place, but Furman has far exceeded my expectations in so many ways. The quality of our people, the significance of our history, the passion for our traditions, and the collective commitment to excellence is evident in so many ways. I am truly grateful for the unwavering support of Furman Athletics from President Elizabeth Davis, the university administration and the Board of Trustees. Despite the significant challenges that we all face, as I begin my second year with you, I am optimistic and confident about the future of Furman Athletics.
Year In Review
This past year was full of excitement, energy and significant accomplishments. I could not be more proud of the way in which our student-athletes and coaches competed as Furman Paladins. We won several conference championships, had numerous teams compete in postseason play, continued to set university records and were consistently recognized on a national level for our individual and collective achievements. At the time when our seasons were cut short in March, our men’s athletics program was ranked No. 1 in the Southern Conference and women’s athletics was ranked No. 2. We also took significant steps forward with our Furman Family culture and community engagement, both within and outside of our athletic department. Our Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams returned to play home games at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, and our “Weekends at the Well” were important in strengthening our brand recognition and re-establishing ourselves as Greenville’s college team.
I am even more proud of the academic accomplishments of our student-athletes. During a period of time when many things were beyond our control, our commitment to excellence was demonstrated by our student-athletes’ academic success. Furman Athletics achieved an all-time high grade-point average of 3.35 in the spring semester; we had five programs nationally recognized for earning perfect 1,000 APR (Academic Progress Report) scores; and we broke our university’s record with 64% of our student-athletes being named to the prestigious Southern Conference Honor Roll. I have tremendous pride in these accomplishments by our Furman Paladins and I’m thankful for the institution-wide contributions and commitment from our outstanding faculty, staff and coaches who support these achievements.
This has also been a year of unexpected events and difficult decisions as we worked through challenging and uncertain times together. A year ago, no one would have imagined that our world would be stricken with a global pandemic that would cause so much disruption to our health, safety and everyday way of life. The closing of our campus, the cancelation of spring and fall sports, and the damage to our university’s financial model resulted in the discontinuation of two of our varsity sports programs. The loss of Furman Baseball and Men’s Lacrosse has been extremely difficult for everyone associated with Furman Athletics. As we respectfully move forward with our new 18-sport model, we will continue to honor and celebrate the history, tradition and legacy of these two programs, our athletics alumni and their coaches.
Focus for the Future
Over the past year, I have spent a great deal of time listening, learning and assessing the strategic needs of Furman Athletics. As we look to the future, our department’s mission, vision and core values will remain the same. We will strive to inspire, educate and develop student-athletes through a culture of excellence, a prestigious liberal arts education and a nationally competitive Division I athletics program. I’m confident we can support a Top 10 FCS football program, NCAA Tournament basketball teams, nationally competitive soccer, golf, tennis, cross country and track & field programs and championship volleyball, softball and women’s lacrosse teams. Furman Athletics will accomplish our goals by focusing on the following key components for success.
1. Outstanding Student-Athletes: The challenges facing our young men and women are now greater than ever, and we need to continue to support our Paladins in academics, mental health, sports performance, diversity and inclusion, and health and safety. The support of our entire community is essential to ensuring our student-athletes’ continued success.
2. Athletics Strategic Plan: Over the past several months, our staff has been working on a comprehensive strategic plan that enables us to support academic and athletic excellence, financial stability, gender equity and sustainable competitive success with an emphasis on revenue generation and philanthropy. In an increasingly complicated and competitive environment for collegiate athletics, our entire community needs to be aligned in our vision, strategy and execution.
3. Invest in Human Capital: The key to sustained success is our people. Furman’s ability to recruit, retain and develop exceptional student-athletes, coaches and staff is vital to our success. Our staff has been developing a philanthropic plan as a part of Furman’s comprehensive campaign to support scholarships, advance coaching salaries and increase investments in our programs.
4. Facilities and the Game Day Experience: An important part of my assessment of Furman Athletics is the need to update, enhance and improve our facilities and game-day experience for our students, season ticket holders, donors and fans. Our coaching, external and facilities staffs have been hard at work designing and developing changes for our stadium and arena fan experiences.
5. Fundraising and Revenue Generation: The most critical pieces moving forward are enhanced revenue generation and philanthropy. In order for Furman to achieve the type of transformational success that we are capable of achieving, we must invest in athletics. This investment needs to come from within, but also from our alumni, season ticket holders and fans. Our needs have never been greater or more impactful on our future. We hope that you will join us on this exciting journey and make the success of Furman Athletics a priority in your giving.
We look forward to sharing updates with on you on each of these key initiatives in the months ahead – and to the day when we can all join together once again. Please know that our Furman Athletics staff is always available to answer any questions you may have.
You are our Furman Family and we sincerely appreciate you!
Take care and GO DINS!!!
Sincerely,
Jason Donnelly
Director of Athletics
Furman University"
If you read nothing else in the below, please note in his last paragraph the sentence that reads “Please know that our Furman Athletics staff is always available to answer any questions you may have.“ I hope those on this board that have been so critical of Jason and President Davis have called one or both of them to communicate it. If not, suggest you do so. Otherwise, they will not have the benefit of your expertise.
"Dear Furman Family,
I hope this letter finds you and your families in good health and in good spirits during this challenging time.
It has been a year since I was honored to assume the role of your director of athletics, and my family and I sincerely appreciate the warm welcome that you have shown us, the great friendships that we have formed, and the strong sense of community that exists around our university. I knew I was coming to a special place, but Furman has far exceeded my expectations in so many ways. The quality of our people, the significance of our history, the passion for our traditions, and the collective commitment to excellence is evident in so many ways. I am truly grateful for the unwavering support of Furman Athletics from President Elizabeth Davis, the university administration and the Board of Trustees. Despite the significant challenges that we all face, as I begin my second year with you, I am optimistic and confident about the future of Furman Athletics.
Year In Review
This past year was full of excitement, energy and significant accomplishments. I could not be more proud of the way in which our student-athletes and coaches competed as Furman Paladins. We won several conference championships, had numerous teams compete in postseason play, continued to set university records and were consistently recognized on a national level for our individual and collective achievements. At the time when our seasons were cut short in March, our men’s athletics program was ranked No. 1 in the Southern Conference and women’s athletics was ranked No. 2. We also took significant steps forward with our Furman Family culture and community engagement, both within and outside of our athletic department. Our Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams returned to play home games at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, and our “Weekends at the Well” were important in strengthening our brand recognition and re-establishing ourselves as Greenville’s college team.
I am even more proud of the academic accomplishments of our student-athletes. During a period of time when many things were beyond our control, our commitment to excellence was demonstrated by our student-athletes’ academic success. Furman Athletics achieved an all-time high grade-point average of 3.35 in the spring semester; we had five programs nationally recognized for earning perfect 1,000 APR (Academic Progress Report) scores; and we broke our university’s record with 64% of our student-athletes being named to the prestigious Southern Conference Honor Roll. I have tremendous pride in these accomplishments by our Furman Paladins and I’m thankful for the institution-wide contributions and commitment from our outstanding faculty, staff and coaches who support these achievements.
This has also been a year of unexpected events and difficult decisions as we worked through challenging and uncertain times together. A year ago, no one would have imagined that our world would be stricken with a global pandemic that would cause so much disruption to our health, safety and everyday way of life. The closing of our campus, the cancelation of spring and fall sports, and the damage to our university’s financial model resulted in the discontinuation of two of our varsity sports programs. The loss of Furman Baseball and Men’s Lacrosse has been extremely difficult for everyone associated with Furman Athletics. As we respectfully move forward with our new 18-sport model, we will continue to honor and celebrate the history, tradition and legacy of these two programs, our athletics alumni and their coaches.
Focus for the Future
Over the past year, I have spent a great deal of time listening, learning and assessing the strategic needs of Furman Athletics. As we look to the future, our department’s mission, vision and core values will remain the same. We will strive to inspire, educate and develop student-athletes through a culture of excellence, a prestigious liberal arts education and a nationally competitive Division I athletics program. I’m confident we can support a Top 10 FCS football program, NCAA Tournament basketball teams, nationally competitive soccer, golf, tennis, cross country and track & field programs and championship volleyball, softball and women’s lacrosse teams. Furman Athletics will accomplish our goals by focusing on the following key components for success.
1. Outstanding Student-Athletes: The challenges facing our young men and women are now greater than ever, and we need to continue to support our Paladins in academics, mental health, sports performance, diversity and inclusion, and health and safety. The support of our entire community is essential to ensuring our student-athletes’ continued success.
2. Athletics Strategic Plan: Over the past several months, our staff has been working on a comprehensive strategic plan that enables us to support academic and athletic excellence, financial stability, gender equity and sustainable competitive success with an emphasis on revenue generation and philanthropy. In an increasingly complicated and competitive environment for collegiate athletics, our entire community needs to be aligned in our vision, strategy and execution.
3. Invest in Human Capital: The key to sustained success is our people. Furman’s ability to recruit, retain and develop exceptional student-athletes, coaches and staff is vital to our success. Our staff has been developing a philanthropic plan as a part of Furman’s comprehensive campaign to support scholarships, advance coaching salaries and increase investments in our programs.
4. Facilities and the Game Day Experience: An important part of my assessment of Furman Athletics is the need to update, enhance and improve our facilities and game-day experience for our students, season ticket holders, donors and fans. Our coaching, external and facilities staffs have been hard at work designing and developing changes for our stadium and arena fan experiences.
5. Fundraising and Revenue Generation: The most critical pieces moving forward are enhanced revenue generation and philanthropy. In order for Furman to achieve the type of transformational success that we are capable of achieving, we must invest in athletics. This investment needs to come from within, but also from our alumni, season ticket holders and fans. Our needs have never been greater or more impactful on our future. We hope that you will join us on this exciting journey and make the success of Furman Athletics a priority in your giving.
We look forward to sharing updates with on you on each of these key initiatives in the months ahead – and to the day when we can all join together once again. Please know that our Furman Athletics staff is always available to answer any questions you may have.
You are our Furman Family and we sincerely appreciate you!
Take care and GO DINS!!!
Sincerely,
Jason Donnelly
Director of Athletics
Furman University"