Baseball Dropped (Updated)

[apaladin]

This is just the beginning of a long spiral down in competitiveness at FU. The current leadership has told us where they stand in regards to athletics.

I can assure you that specific events/announcements in the near future will prove you very wrong

I prey that you are correct and I am totally wrong.

Have they backed away from chopping the other 20 scholarships?

The scholarship reduction did not include those in the sports that have been contracted. The 45 scholarship reduction was happening regardless of whether or not sports were being eliminated.

Furman’s high tuition with smaller enrollment is backing itself into a corner. More and more people are looking at ROI on spending for a college education. There are lower priced alternatives that provide just as good or better value. What is the paying customer getting for $67,000 or whatever they end up paying.

Sorry but I ain’t buying it. There are many similar schools across the country. Wofford is half the size with similar tuition(almost). It comes down to poor leadership.

[MetroMizzy]

Higher Education is a scam. The Furman degree holds zero weight once you're outside a hundred mile radius of Greenville IMO. $250K of debt for what?? Serious question, for what?? What do you bring to the table that someone that went to FSU for free doesn't?

[Furmanoid]

Higher Education is a scam. The Furman degree holds zero weight once you're outside a hundred mile radius of Greenville IMO. $250K of debt for what?? Serious question, for what?? What do you bring to the table that someone that went to FSU for free doesn't?

Out of loyalty I was willing to find a way for my daughter to be a third generation Paladin. But I knew it was a really stupid waste of money. She saved me by choosing CofC where we have spent almost nothing. It looks likely that she will attend the grad school of her choice (ND).

[paladinfan12]

Higher Education is a scam. The Furman degree holds zero weight once you're outside a hundred mile radius of Greenville IMO. $250K of debt for what?? Serious question, for what?? What do you bring to the table that someone that went to FSU for free doesn't?

Out of loyalty I was willing to find a way for my daughter to be a third generation Paladin. But I knew it was a really stupid waste of money. She saved me by choosing CofC where we have spent almost nothing. It looks likely that she will attend the grad school of her choice (ND).

I say yes and no on this one.

Yes - for graduate schools, med schools, law schools, higher ed, etc. Furman is an elite university known for producing well educated students. In the higher ed community Furman is well known.

No - for employment opportunities. Large companies hit up the same programs at every school every year. Furman doesn't have many programs that really attract those companies to consistently hire Furman grads and recruit on campus.

FWIW - I had decent grades at Furman, barely top half of the class, and had a horrible time finding a job out of school. When I went to grad school a few years later I got in everywhere, got scholarships, and finished first in my class thanks to the preparation Furman gave me. I don't think you're paying for a reputation when you go to Furman.

[The Jackal]

I contemplate this often.

I generally think that higher education has gotten unhinged from itself and has turned into a bit of an arms race. I had high school teacher that thought the entire 4 years was nonsense.

I also think that it is a matter that you cannot easily dissect once having passed through. Would I have been the same person had I not attended Furman? Would I think the same? Reason the same? Would I have had success in other areas of my life? I'll never know that.

There's a reason that Furman describes itself as "an experience"

[Roundball]

“Citadel coach: New college baseball model could lead to split among NCAA Division I schools.” https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/c ... 6d05c.html

[apaladin]

“Citadel coach: New college baseball model could lead to split among NCAA Division I schools.” https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/c ... 6d05c.html

Again a very misleading headline.

[Roundball]

“Citadel coach: New college baseball model could lead to split among NCAA Division I schools.” https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/c ... 6d05c.html

Again a very misleading headline.

Did you even bother to read the entire article? Below is a couple of paragraphs from the article that suggest the headline is not misleading.

“The growing gap between Power 5 schools and the rest of Division I could lead to a split in college baseball, similar to the FBS (formerly Division I-A) and FCS (Division I-AA) split that’s been in place in college football since 1978.

“They designed this model with Power 5 schools in mind, not taking into account the other 200 schools that will struggle if they do this,” Skole said.

″... If we’re not careful, if Power 5 schools keep pushing, we might end up with an FBS/FCS situation like they have in football, because the gap just keeps getting wider and wider.”

[Affirm]

From 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM, today, approximately 5 consecutive messages in the present thread, by approximately 5 different writers, all seem to be quite negative about the value of Furman education in comparison to the sticker price.
Three comments:
1. Many attendees get financial aid whereby they have much lower cost than sticker price.
2. It seems oddly contradictory that persons who think Furman is not worth the cost nevertheless are so highly interested in Furman athletics. Does not seem to make sense. Negative comments about the value of Furman education seem to discourage prospective students including athletes and even present students including athletes.
3. Most students who go to Furman are quite able to go numerous other places as well, whether nearby or far away. It is usually a free choice. A few people perhaps have extenuating circumstances whereby Furman may be their only reasonable choice. Very few.

[Affirm]

Higher Education is a scam. The Furman degree holds zero weight once you're outside a hundred mile radius of Greenville IMO. $250K of debt for what?? Serious question, for what?? What do you bring to the table that someone that went to FSU for free doesn't?

First sentence is false.
Second sentence is even far more false than the first sentence.
Questions in sentences 3, 4, and 5 all have the same answer; “it all depends upon who the individual(s) is (are).”
Affirm asks THIS question: how many people who could go to FSU for free would have end up with $250,000 debt if they chose to go to Furman instead? Affirm would answer probably none, even Florida residents.

[FurmAlum]

I think you guys that don't think a Furman education is worth it are way off base. It has opened doors for me my entire life regarding my job and provided me with friends/fraternity brothers that I have maintained relationships with to this day. It's also a place that you might cross paths with some interesting people:

The RA on my hall freshman year is now the CEO of Chick-Fil-A . The guy that sat behind me in Military History became the Commanding General U.S. Army Special Forces. Two girls that I knew on the Women's Golf Team are now in the LPGA Hall of Fame.

My small circle of friends have been successful in all walks of life. They include 3 trial lawyers, 2 corporate lawyers, 1 CFO, 1 Chief Investment Officer, 2 Financial Advisors (me included), 1 Bankruptcy Attorney, 2 Insurance Co. Executives, 1 Golf Professional/Owner of Golf Course Design & Construction Firm, and the list could go on.

My younger daughter turned down 4 full academic scholarship offers from state schools in Tennessee because she wanted to go to Furman to major in a pre-med curriculum. And I gulped, but I encouraged her to go. When we got there for orientation they got the parents/students in a room and showed us a list of all the things the pre-med students needed to do to get in med-school. They also told us that they had relationships with and/or knew people at every med-school in the country. They weren't kidding either. She got in every one she applied for. Her advisor/entry level biology professor was from Harvard Medical School. The class had 18 students. That class at a state school would have had 600 students taught by a grad-assistant.

She participated in all kind of extra-curricular activities at FU and never missed a party, but she also studied her butt off, too. One day around 2009 or 2010 she was studying in the Science Library and she looked up and there was Charles Townes standing there and he introduced himself and they chatted for awhile. It's not every day or at any school that you meet a Nobel Prize winner/guy that invented the Laser! When she got to med-school she said heck, Furman was harder than med-school!

One time when we visited we went out to dinner with her roommate's parents. The dad was the CEO of a major U.S corporation and had another daughter at Duke. I asked them which school they were most pleased with and both of them said FURMAN.

My daughter had a small academic scholarship of about 5K and I paid the rest, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

P.S. I don't have anything against public state universities. My older daughter went to UTC and it was fine and she has done well too.

[Roundball]

Good opinion piece. Touches on the value of a Furman education and baseball. Someone might say the headline is misleading, but here it is anyway. “Say it ain’t so: Cutting baseball at Furman was a bad call.” http://greenvillenewssc.sc.newsmemory.c ... =24c96ba2a

[apaladin]

Good opinion piece. Touches on the value of a Furman education and baseball. Someone might say the headline is misleading, but here it is anyway. “Say it ain’t so: Cutting baseball at Furman was a bad call.” http://greenvillenewssc.sc.newsmemory.c ... =24c96ba2a

Very appropriate headline. Hits the nail on the head.

[The Jackal]

I'd like to actually hear from the president. Not a prepared statement.

Donnelly had a long interview with the State. I appreciate that and his honesty. You can see immediately this wasn't his call.

Furman does not owe me an explanation, but at a small school, the last thing you want to do is alienate your alumni. This is alienating your alumni.

[FGT]

Good opinion piece. Touches on the value of a Furman education and baseball. Someone might say the headline is misleading, but here it is anyway. “Say it ain’t so: Cutting baseball at Furman was a bad call.” http://greenvillenewssc.sc.newsmemory.c ... =24c96ba2a

Very appropriate headline. Hits the nail on the head.

The ire from the Furman baseball community is directed squarely at Dr. Davis. She refuses to even allow discussion for a path to reinstatement. That brings into question her intent and motives all along. At this point she is willing to hide behind emails and figure at some point folks will get tired of complaining and all will be forgotten. It’s going to be a while till that happens.

She has stepped on and kicked aside many Furman alumni with this decision. This includes the family of Dr. Plyler who are none too pleased. Think about arguably the most decorated dual sport athlete in school history. Ron Smith raises millions of dollars for that facility. These donors wanted to create a lasting legacy. That has been swept away.

The timing of the decision is terrible for all who support the program. A lot of people would like for her to go on the record and give her vision for the future of Furman athletics. Her directive to the AD went from reducing scholarships by 45 department wide over a 5 year period to doing this and eliminating 2 male sports.

Furman University’s greatest asset is it’s people. Alumni and donors who are key stakeholders should be treated fairly and respectfully. The perfect storm occurred for her. The pandemic and a first year AD who would provide no pushback. Where there is a will there is a way. Dr. Davis has no will for a solution even if presented with a way.