Special Announcement To The President's Club

VideoEagle · October 19, 2008

I want to make sure everyone knows that Dr. B. sent out a special email to the President's Council level donors about the stadium referendum passing and how thrilled she was about it. I'm personally hopeful this will dispel uninformed rumor that some how one of the leading proponent's of our football team is some how "opposed to athletics." Nothing could be farther from the actual truth.

Dodge2007 · October 19, 2008

Congrats Dr. B and Ricky V.

More importantly, its great for the future of the University. Multi use venue in one of the hot beds in the real estate market of Texas.

I bet Rick V. was sweating bullets. This is definintely not about today but its for the kids of FFR, Emmitt, and all the true die hards of NT football.

The music, the sound of the game, the site lines, are really going to be special.

greenminer · October 19, 2008

What about the rumor that she is anti-athletics?

eulessismore · October 19, 2008

What about the rumor that she is anti-athletics?

There's the proper emphasis.

houstonmeangreen · October 19, 2008

I want to make sure everyone knows that Dr. B. sent out a special email to the President's Council level donors about the stadium referendum passing and how thrilled she was about it. I'm personally hopeful this will dispel uninformed rumor that some how one of the leading proponent's of our football team is some how "opposed to athletics." Nothing could be farther from the actual truth.

I agree about Dr. B. Being from Houston, when Dr B has been in houston she has always talked up the stadium and football....she is a real supporter of UNT football....I like her and she has played a big part in raising funds for this stadium...calling on donors iwth RV,

Green Mean · October 19, 2008

What about the rumor that she is anti-athletics?

You may want to consult with Playmaker on that one.

GreenMachine · October 19, 2008

What about the rumor that she is anti-athletics?

what about the rumor that a certain poster likes to wear womens pink, silk undies while posting on GMG?

greenminer · October 19, 2008

what about the rumor that a certain poster likes to wear womens pink, silk undies while posting on GMG?

what rumor? confirmed

MeanGreen61 · October 19, 2008

I want to make sure everyone knows that Dr. B. sent out a special email to the President's Council level donors about the stadium referendum passing and how thrilled she was about it. I'm personally hopeful this will dispel uninformed rumor that some how one of the leading proponent's of our football team is some how "opposed to athletics." Nothing could be farther from the actual truth.

E-mail text

Dear ---,

This evening, we released the results of a Student Government Association referendum for a new fee that would provide dedicated funding to our athletics program. I wanted to be the first to tell you that our students voted yes, endorsing our commitment to strengthen the program.

A significant portion of the new fee will help build a new stadium and entertainment venue on our campus. I invite you to learn more about our plans.

You’ve heard me say before that our nation’s great universities strive to be great in everything they do. UNT is no different. With this endorsement, our students have done their part to help make our vision for a stronger UNT a reality.

Having a football stadium that matches UNT’s stature as a renowned student-centered public research university will shine a light on all of our areas of excellence and heighten our national visibility.

We now will move forward with the next steps to realizing our plans of building a venue that is as up to date as Fouts Field was when it opened in 1952. Our vision is to build a new facility that will include an entertainment complex possibly with a hotel and convention space adjacent to our Athletic Center that would serve as an important attraction for our university family and the greater Denton community. The stadium also will be built on green principles, giving us an opportunity to become the first in the nation to have a LEED-certified collegiate football stadium.

Our athletics programs give our student-athletes an opportunity to excel on the field, bring our campus community together, connect our alumni to their alma mater and serve as a rallying point for all our supporters.

Thanks to our students we are off to an excellent start for a brighter future, but we still must rely on our alumni, our supporters and the community to make our vision a reality. Texas law does not allow state funds to support athletic construction, so a new stadium can only be built with funds raised by private donors and student fees. The student portion can only fund up to 50 percent of the cost.

I encourage you to come out and cheer on the Mean Green at Homecoming Saturday (Oct. 25).

With green pride,

Gretchen M. Bataille

President

UNT_playmaker · October 19, 2008

You may want to consult with Playmaker on that one.

Well I heard from someone that there was more behind it, but whats most important is the students passed the fee and nothing can stop us from building our stadium

Go Mean Green

ntsarahelizabeth · October 20, 2008

I've spoke with Dr. Bataille MULTIPLE times as a student leader when I was in college. She is very much PRO athletics. She supports the teams just as much as she supports the University of North Texas being a university dedicated to research.

meangreendork · October 20, 2008

But I swore she was anti-athletics. But I also swore we won the vote, then lost the vote, then swore I was fencesitting? I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON ANYMORE.

Green Mean · October 20, 2008

Well she did come from a school that is huge in athletics and in general North Carolina has a lot of big name schools with pretty good or strong athletics. So her being pro athletics is certainly not a surprise in my opinion. Even if she is anti athletics I think she does have the knowledge of how powerful it is and how much of an impact it can be on a university.

Harry · October 20, 2008

Dude she's clearly not anti athletics so why even make that statement? Trying to stir the pot?

eulessismore · October 20, 2008

Dude she's clearly not anti athletics so why even make that statement? Trying to stir the pot?

Or at least provide some evidence to back up such an accusation.

good_ken · October 20, 2008

Dude she's clearly not anti athletics so why even make that statement? Trying to stir the pot?

Because people are taking Playmaker's posts/rants (read manifestos of insanity) as fact. Isn't that a dangerous thing to think about.

THOR · October 20, 2008

whatever happened to playmaker's :ph34r: about something bad that was going to come out regarding the football team???

Quoner · October 20, 2008

More Playmaker!

GoMeanGreen1999 · October 20, 2008

:ph34r:

When does the recap go up?

October 20, 2008

I do not believe that Dr. Bataille is anti-athletics (I accused her of that the first time that I met her). She attends all of the football games and is a strong supporter.

However, I don't understand her use of the words "our commitment" in her letter. Where was her commitment leading up to the voting? I did not hear one single word of support from her for (or against) the referendum.

The referendum passed and she came out smelling like a rose. But what if it had failed? Her lack of leadership could have been a contributing factor. She was an English major and has a way with words. She could have worded her support so as not to be demanding or intimidative to the student voters and still conveyed the importance of this stadium to the status and future of the University of North Texas.

I'm glad that she's on board with the project and I think that she can and will assist its completion in every way that she can.

It's also nothing personal. I like her and think that she's intelligent, attractive and charming but I'm very disappointed that she didn't step to the plate when the issue was very much in doubt.

THOR · October 20, 2008

cool

KRAM1 · October 20, 2008

What email to President's Council members????? My wife and I are members and we did not receive an email?????

Maybe she's heard I support the return of men's soccer over baseball and put me on the "do not contact" list. Interesting....thery sent me my President's Council "RENEWAL" letter and notice this weekend. They certainly do know how to reach me.....I am feeling left out and snubbed!!!! :lol: :cry:

Quoner · October 20, 2008

What email to President's Council members????? My wife and I are members and we did not receive an email?????
Maybe she's heard I support the return of men's soccer over baseball and put me on the "do not contact" list. Interesting....thery sent me my President's Council "RENEWAL" letter and notice this weekend. They certainly do know how to reach me.....I am feeling left out and snubbed!!!!

"That's" "negative" "talk"

Harry · October 20, 2008

I'm very disappointed that she didn't step to the plate when the issue was very much in doubt.

To step up to the plate in a student referendum would have been political suicide for her. The last thing we need right now is another Dr. Pohl situation. Dr. Pohl is a great guy and was a huge supporter of athletics, however he got sideways with the faculty politically and it ended up costing him his job. Having Dr. B speak up regarding her support of the stadium would have given us some warm fuzzies but it also would have expended precious political capital that didn't need to be used in this particular endeavor. I think it was a smart play by her and I do believe that she is very supportive of athletics and its growth. The message we are getting from Dr. B right now is we expect our athletic programs to be on par with our academic programs. She will be holding people accountable for athletic success (both academic and on the field of play) and that is her job not being a lobbyist for a student referendum.

GreenAlums · October 20, 2008

The vote was up to the students. That was their task. Dr. B. supports it 100%, trust me. Her job now begins. She will turn the vote in to construction, that's her task. Let's let her do her magic. You will come to appreciate her tenacity and accountibility and most of all understanding of what this university needs for future growth and success. I'm not making these statements blindly.