McCormick promises transparency, but fails to deliver

So far, the Rutgers football team has lost every single game it has played this season. It's not too late to give up hope for a major turnaround, boosters say, but the atrocious performance of the team is leading many to have serious doubts about whether the $102 million stadium expansion is a good idea after all.

In a speech made this past week, university president Richard McCormick once again apologized for the "lack of transparency" in athletic department dealings, namely an audit that revealed shady accounting practices and off-the-books spending for the benefit of Big Football. To prevent future embarrassments McCormick promised to appoint a new position charged with oversight of athletics, remarking that, "In athletics and across Rutgers, my administration will continue to ensure increased awareness of, and compliance with, the University's highest standards." The problem is that McCormick has done little to nothing to earn a reputation for integrity.

As regular readers of this blog know, I have been following the controversy surrounding the Rutgers stadium expansion for some time (see the "College" archive for those posts). During the past two months in particular, McCormick and others people involved in questionable actions have denied charges and promised transparency, yet they have failed to open access to financial records. Indeed, the university president is pushing empty promises in an attempt to quell the outrage among students, faculty, and staff in a time of state financial strain. Future oversight is important, but we want to know about the damage that has already been done.

What is perhaps most appalling about this entire affair, however, is that we probably don't know the whole story yet. According to reports released last weekend, the Rutgers athletic department has been receiving about $500,000 a year for the past several years (for a total of about $2.25 million). The funds were tacked onto the state budget and funneled directly to the football program. (No one seems to know exactly where they came from.) The channeling of money to football was not concealed or illegal, but up until now it was generally overlooked. The revelation is disturbing, though, as it illustrates how the athletics department has received about 1/3 of special grant funding awarded to Rutgers, a fact that is even more worrisome as tuition goes up and staff are laid off.

If you're tired of reading about this controversy, I can empathize. I'm tired of writing about it. The university administration continues to do whatever they want, regardless of complaint & criticism, telling us that it will all be ok, really. I don't believe it. Too many have bought into the delusion that Rutgers is a big-time football school and that lavishing funds on a sub-par team is just the price that has to be paid for prestige. For all the talk of the "good" the team is doing for Rutgers, no one has been able to explain to my satisfaction how throwing more money at a failing team is going to help anyone.

Rutgers fans got a taste of victory two years ago and they are dying for just another hit. Like any addiction, though, getting university officials to kick their football habit is probably going to be very painful for everyone.