“The athletic administration has given us a number to raise in order to fully endow the men’s and women’s programs with full scholarships and that number is $25.2 million,” Marden said. …

“The athletic administration has given us a number to raise in order to fully endow the men’s and women’s programs with full scholarships and that number is $25.2 million,” Marden said. …

How does that compare to amounts required from previous programs that were on the chopping block? (eg Cal)
LikeLike
I’m not sure.
LikeLike
It’s a ridiculous, massive and completely unattainable ask. Cal raised less than 1/4 that amount to save 5 sports. Asking to completely endow a program in perpetuity and its scholarships (the UIC men’s team doesn’t even have scholarships), is just beyond the pale. SEC football programs would struggle to raise that sort of money in >6 months. They don’t want to keep gymnastics, and it’s not about the money. That’s what this ask is saying.
LikeLike
Per news reports, UIC’s entire annual athletic budget is $20 million dollars, making this number even more ridiculous. The budget for both gymnastics programs, annually, is less than 1 million, and the men’s program brings in substantial money to the university since, without scholarships, all 24 members are paying tuition, many of them at out-of-state rates. The tuition payments alone are already substantially greater than the budget of the program.
LikeLike