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A Clemson University Comment and Appeal:

Feb 19, 2007, 6:02 AM

If you have been on this board to see my occasional post over the last few years, or whether you haven't, thanks for looking....

Back to the days of current and early Tigernet, there have been wonderful heartfelt posts. Most were inspired by some sort of historical memory, whether it was a wondrous night of campus walking, family events across generations, even drunken moments during victorious sporting events, meeting that special some one, or simply marveling at the beauty of the upstate of South Carolina...there are many posts, both put on the internet and many more within the heads of those who have been to and wish to pay tribute to Thomas Green Clemson's vision and university.

Since 1889, The University has had a wonderful history.....surely points of pride, some miss-steps, visions of education, setbacks of reality, leadership, both wonderful and occasionally lacking...like most universities, these events add up to a litany of local lore, wondrous tales of that extra effort, the professor that went beyond 'teacher' that lead to inspiration, the occasion to wonder what is next; the changes and challenges of the modern ages. Both men and women, have come and gone through the gates that were created back in that late 1800's...throughout this, it is my belief that we have maintained an uncommon bond, a source of family that goes beyond a degree, a hand shake. We are tight, we are proud, we are Clemson. Sure, everyone loves their alma mater; as they should...yet, the combined relationships of those that graduated along with those whom are stirred by the echo of the Tiger.....are so powerful, it is simply a wondrous mixture of passion and love that belong to this university.

When visiting your sons, daughters, cousins and family members around this great nation of ours; attending graduations and events at colleges and universities across this country - you smile, applaud, and pride fully cry at there accomplishments. Yet, silently, you naturally are drawn to an internal comparison, an often longing for those who did not attend or those who are not acquainted ...to come with you for a moment, a stroll, at best a weekend, a ball game, a walk across grounds, a meal within town.....something to show them why you hold the Clemson University ground with such regard.. ...

The recent weeks have had us hot and cold regarding the administrative and executive leadership regarding our university. We have heard internal stories, seen public responses, guessed and speculated what each role within Clemson is facing.... when examined on the front end, it is pretty difficult to jump on an administration or leadership that is attempting to bring academic leadership to the university. Who among us is going to argue against that goal? Only the most cynical view would belittle that goal; we have seen the occasional internal issue that caused both student and alumni to pause and take reflection, and at yes pivotal times take action.....

Oh how I hate to be a poster whom says this sort of comment...but recent insight has clarified that both rumor and reality are accurate, if not even worse in the day to day rumored administration view of managing academic entrance for athletes. I hate to post within the internet, the term FACT, however, as you will see over the next few weeks the recent recruitment issues are simply reality. There is a committee which shapes the ability and limits your coaching staffs with regards to the recruitment process. The rumors and events reported upon over the last several weeks are not only on the money, there is a list of athletic signatures across your peer groups, that signed with alternative college choices, in many cases because your staff was told not to recruit those players as they entered their senior years. Substantial relationships have yielded to predictive academic committee?. Many of these events are simply not public nor can they be based on legal commentary: while it is fine to discuss aggregate academic data, it is illegal to publicly discuss an individual?s grades and results in a public forum. Regardless, the frank situation is this: there are NCAA standards for athletes, and then there are another set of standards prepared by the AARC within Clemson University, whom predict the future based for athletic scholarship candidates. .

If the presidents of colleges across America woke up tomorrow and said, 'what are we doing; we are no longer a farm systems for professional athletics...' then I have every confidence that our university will both lead and participate in such a high minded view of this topic. Rightly, or wrongly....that is not the issue at hand......universities/colleges are in the business of admitting both good and marginal students within the realm of athletic academics. We see wonderful tales of kids whom struggled prior to college life, and then right themselves and earn a degree...and we also see kids whose purpose is to survive academia...for a hopeful draft date.

We are fortunate to have athletic leadership within the football program, where these issues are taken seriously. Attend class, study hall etc. and stay on the team. We are fortunate to have leadership that takes that seriously. This commitment will surely pay off across future generations; ask the kid that thought they would be in the NFL, but doesn?t make?whether having a degree will make a difference throughout their life.

Bottom line; the existing committee is not playing by the same rules of USC, UNC, UGA, UVA, Notre Dame, for that matter, your friends at Duke or Wake Forest. You have a committee which is looking at probability of a student and making judgment with regards to whether they can or cannot cut it at Clemson. It is both offensive and arrogant, that we have created a belief that we have statistical evidence that yields a winning formula for graduation.

This is the first of my posts regarding an organized boycott of certain aspects regarding our university. To begin with, the Clemson Fund will be looking for you to re-affirm your commitment to our university between now and June 30th, the end of the fiscal year. As a person who has given for 19 consecutive years, often very large pledges as well as post mortem commitment to Clemson, I strongly suggest that you consider and withhold your voluntary academic funding until we see true action or understanding of how our administration has hand-cuffed our athletic leadership across ALL athletic programs. This is not a vote for athletics over academics; this is a vote and required action for a deeper commitment and unification regarding all things Clemson. This is the first of an organized program which will target alumnus and those whom provide Clemson with both fiscal academic funding and future monetary commitment.

Please consider, and take action as I assure you that the rumors and stories you have heard over the last few weeks are the TIP of a very large internal issue.

Let's not see this as a long term negative; rather as an opportunity to correct miss-guided goals...

Yours in Clemson,

Chicago Tiger

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babbling post criticizing our academic leaders which is replete with misspellings, grammatical errors, and poor sentence structure. If you are a Clemson graduate, PLEASE go out and get a seventh-grade grammar textbook and do some remedial work on your writing skills.

Flame me if you wish. I simply cannot stomach such drivel, written in the style of a middle-schooler trying to sound erudite.

As for our current "controversy," Barker and TDP both have promised a review of the admissions process. Either you think they're liars, or you should quit fanning flames of discontent until we see what results. The FACT is--since chicago tiger thinks he knows the facts--we just signed an excellent class. The sky is not falling. We may have missed out on one potential contributor, but let's be honest; JoJo is not in the same league with JD or CJ. As long as we recruit well at RB in the next few classes, we're fine at the position.

The bottom line is, I wish people would quit trying to pose as academics when their writing reveals desperate deficiency. Pres. Barker is not an evil man. He does not wish for CTB to fail, nor for our athletics to suffer. Most here had more to say about the timing of JoJo's exclusion than the fact that the AARC deemed him ineligible for admission. TDP has said the timing issue is the fault of the coaching staff. The truth is, JoJo had a year of prep school to get his academics in order. I don't know what his transcript or test scores look like, but he apparently didn't cut the muster with the committee. How about a little trust in our leadership? If something is broken, why not wait and see if they fix it?

If it turns out the AARC was right all along, won't TNet look foolish for all this posing?

A Clemson University Comment and Appeal:

Witholding money from the Clemson Fund only hurts

Barker should have thought beforehand....

Barker should have thought beforehand....

Barker should have thought beforehand....***

Barker should have thought beforehand....***

Yep...It's called "Cutting off the nose to spite the face"

great post*

Great post, but...

Re: A Clemson University Comment and Appeal:

Re: A Clemson University Comment and Appeal:

I see your point, but I think it would be a mistake...

there would be no publicity...

I agree that there SHOULD be no publicity...

Ugh! Clear the waters!

I have a hard time taking seriously any long,

I tend to think that people can have good thoughts and ideas

LOL.........truth is, I didn't think he had a decent point

Then just say that and skip the Grammar Police stuff.***

big empty hole.***

Agreed - the grammer police stuff just causes

Whatever. I had an opinion. It happens to be

you're looking at actuals...

and.. as the guy posted

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Oops, i mean Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.***

Per Webster's: academic, scholarly to the point of being

I've never seen a spelling question on the SAT***

They probably assume high school students can spell

Very good post, I have thought of mentioning the same, but

Your post disproves your point.

The only thing I'm boycotting is your posts from now on***

Your position will be much stronger if you wait until

This is a joke, right?

Re: A Clemson University Comment and Appeal:

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