Saw this Substack on Wittenberg and it relates to D3

https://stevedittmore.substack.com/p/is-wittenberg-university-a-cautionary

Was it just me, or was that the flattest, most desultory Wittenberg team in recent history?

Quote from: LG67 on September 12, 2026, 07:20:04 AMOC is supposedly a good music school.  Perhaps they should focus on that and forget football.

There has to be SOME reason they keep at it. Unlike, say, Hiram, I don't think they need it to boost male enrollment

Quote from: IC798891 on September 04, 2026, 07:52:53 PMBut we need to recall the state of the colleges in the article that sparked this conversation. These are institutions that are struggling financially, to the tune of being forced to break some of the ironclad rules of sustainability.

They, and the hundreds of other colleges facing closure/merger in the next decade don't have the luxury of slowly nurturing small relationships and waiting decades for the payoff.

It's not that the random $100 isn't appreciated, it's that it can't do what you need it to.

Many times grantors in private Foundations or Corporations also look at alumni giving percentage, and that can be immediate short term gains. I'm convinced a lot of the troubled colleges didn't kick their fundraising gears up until it was too late. That's especially true, it seems, of colleges associated with a church.

Quote*I say this AS a rank and file alumnus. My hundred bucks a year is not keeping the lights on

Fundraising pro here. The more rank-and-file alumni give, the more attractive the college is for larger donors as it shows that there is affinity and interest in the instiution.

Now, higher ed fundraising is shedding smaller donors, pertty much across the board, as charitable giving becomes more targeted and cause oriented. But stewarding the rank-and-file donor gifts is what gets you the larger gifts down the road, and makes the college more attractive for estate plans.

Quote from: ADL70 on August 15, 2026, 02:30:23 PMNot another conference which you suggested in a video short, but rather an independent schedule. Original NCAC members Oberlin, Denison, Kenyon, Ohio Wesleyan, and Wooster also form a consortium, The Five Colleges of Ohio. Keep them from the NCAC schedule as non conference games. Allegheny was also an original NCAC member (CWRU was the 7th) so add them to the schedule. They could also consider scheduling some other struggling programs such as Hilbert, Keystone, Gallaudet, and Hiram. Maybe St Francis as well.

With 8 of 10 games of 12 minute quarters they are in essence only playing 8.4 games as it is. Just schedule 8 or even fewer; play weeks 1,3,5,7,9,11 for recovery.

Oberlin has a lot going for it: elite academics, great new facilities, and history. At nearly 3,000 it also has the largest enrollment of full conference members (new football member Wash U dwarfs them all).

Perhaps a reset will help them build the program back.

Kenyon did that in 2003. They could (and did) drop teams (Wabash, Wittenberg, Wooster, Allegheny). BY 2005, due to the unbalanced schedule in the NCAC, they went 6-1 and were Wabash upset away from the playoffs.

I don't think anyone I've spoken to is spooked by the $50 ticket price. Little Giant fans will find a way to pay.

I know they had a Heartland College Day at the Dome at least once. (I found 1986 vs. Anderson and I did PA as a college junior). The issue is that while it drew a large crowd for Wabash, in the old Hoosier Dome it looked totally empty.

While an endowment is not an open wallet, a nice sized endowment can keep doors open by offering monies to programs and scholarships, while tuition-dependent privates are at a big disadvantage.

What builds endowment? Fundraising and research. For small privates, it's definitely fundraising. I think that religious small privates thought that their churches would help them and / or encourage donors, but that's not the case. Church donors seem to be very localized for a particular church or parish, and not generally national in scope.

I know some denominations are sitting on a blank-ton of money, but it again may be restricted or set aside for emergencies, as it were.

Caught up with this board, finally. The financial issues are affecting smaller public schools as well if tax revenues don't meet expectations. It takes some bold management to deal with the financial issues head on, and a smart president would try to grow or start a program that other colleges have ended in the hopes of tuition dollars and fundraising.

The biggest headache is dealing with the DEI and international student issues. Colleges can't hide from them, because a few outspoken alumni can cause big trouble by going to their favored outlets.

BTW - Simon Fraser is 'exploring' departing the NCAA to rejoin their instituions in Canada. I don't think this will have an effect on D3, per se, except some SFU recruits may be ripe for picking for some D3 schools.

Hey, I'm not dead!

Basically, knee issues, new position at work (awesome opportunity but have to herd a lot of prospects and development officers into place), CWU football going to the D2 playoffs, and going through recovery. (11 months sober).

But the idea that Wabash has lost interest in football is insane. The Wabash fandom is still strong out there. Just a new mix of people who don't post.

OK, back to the grind.

I was surprised (well, maybe I shouldn't have been) that there was an arguement on the cliff from an elite research university alum, which aside from federal research grants and perhaps international students, may not be as affected as others.

I do know that the UW system had to fill some big holes in its budget for all of the schools. The state had to close a $16 billion budget shortfall and higher ed took a brunt. Western Washington lost $8 million, which is a lot for a small public. They also cut the state college grant eligibility to 60% of the median income. Also, a lot of the burder for the annual raises for higher ed employees has been moved to the institutions and not the state. UW and Wazoo also faced pretty significant cuts from them.

At CWU - we lost our highly ranked varsity rugby programs, and a lot of cuts came from student activites, publications, and clubs.

We've lost 3,000 students from 2019 to 2023, and in the 2024 academic year lost another 300. Trends are hopefully up but we built and budgeted on an 11,000+ student body and back in 2019, and now....

Sonoma State, D2 in California,  gutted several academic programs and dropped athletics, period, starting next Academic year.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/sonoma-state-budget-cuts-layoffs-20049685.php

Enrollment had plummeted and they have had major leadership issues.

Some athletes will need a home for sure.

"Among the parents I'm talking about are those that aren't necessarily religious but are very uncomfortable with the direction most colleges have gone in promoting an anti-religion or political narrative in unison. There is an opportunity for schools that swim against that trend. Most are currently religion-based but that's not a requirement."

Having worked in higher ed, this is a canard that has caught on with the loudmouths and parents who can't fathom anyone would hold different values and beliefs. Usually it's just one or two classes or professors that get the attention and people generalize that the math or physics departments are indoctrinating student. And some teach actual history instead of spoon-fed patriotic pablum.

"I don't disagree, I just don't think it's that large of a market overall. Keep an eye on The New College outside Tampa FL. That will be a test case, though it's public."

The New College has been a disaster - in terms of student and faculty retention - and it's curriculum is less than rigorous now. I saw a guest columnist who is a current New College believer and he touted ROI. College isn't about ROI - it's about learning. Period.

The guy who convinced DeSantis about New College is a huckster and grifter who lives in Washington State (!). Evergreen State College (Go Geoducks!) is about as far away from New College's current trajectory as you can get, and after a trying time is back on its feet with increasing enrollment and good financial positions.

I think most students want a diverse learning environment because you can't always stay in your little bubbles.

It depends on the state school, and the mission. At Central Washington, where I work at, in-state tuition is $7,231 (that includes border counties in Idaho and Oregon) - tuition for the WUE (Western Undergrad Exchange Program for those pursuing their first degree - which includes Guam, American Samoa, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, and Northern Marianas) is $10,847.

Pure out of state tuition is $25,340.

Fees are $2,186 and room and board is $16,480.

We try to get first generation and the underserved population as students. So we reach out to the farm worker and immigrant community, the less affluent suburbs, and the small towns around the state as much as the moneyed areas over in Seattle. That definitely isn't the mission at the University of Washington, or even Washington State (where they seem to play with apples more than anything)!