September 22, 1994: Vol26n3: High Five for Athletics

By CHRISTINE VIDAL
Reporter Editor
He began by threatening to tell his audience everything about the UB
football program - all 100 years of it. But in the end, Nelson
Townsend, director of athletics, presented UB's more recent athletic
history.
	Townsend spoke Sept. 13 at "UB at Sunrise," a series of
breakfast programs of topical and intellectual interest to the
community.
	He also made two announcements - that Athletics officials are
in the process of finalizing a plan that would take UB student
athletes into local schools to work with high school students, and
that UB would someday have a first-rate marching band to accompany its
football team - as well as a promise - that the Bulls would be
victorious over their Homecoming opponent, Colgate, on Oct. 8.
	"We're very, very appreciative for what you have done in
supporting us, but we can use more support, for our effort is a great
one and we need you to go with us as we achieve what we have set out
to achieve," Townsend said.
	When he arrived in Buffalo in 1987, UB's athletics program was
competing in Division III, operating at "slightly above club level,"
with some athletes investing their own money for equipment, Town-send
said. "Things like buying their own shoes, and buying their own
helmets for football and mouthpieces for other sports. Division III...
is considered our lowest level of intercollegiate athletic
participation, low only in the level of support received from
universities."
	Today, UB competes at the NCAA Division I level against
schools such Lehigh, Colgate, Bucknell, Lafayette, Rhode Island,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Delaware and Maine,
Townsend said.
	"Remember, we're not talking about whether Division I is
better than Division II or III. We're talking about a philosophical
difference between the institutions" and their respective missions, he
said.
	"In taking on this Division I philosophy, we have also taken
on a major responsibility. We have expressed to the academic world
that intercollegiate athletics is an integral part and a very major
part of the university experience. To the faculty, the university is
stating that it is making a responsible but significant investment in
the broader experience for the student population. This was not always
an easy declaration," Townsend said. "Many faculty welcomed the
university's emergence into the major university community of sports,
but some saw it as an irresponsible investment of university
resources."
	When UB began its Run to Division I, Townsend noted, "we had
three major goals."
	The first, he said, was to broaden the athletic, recreation
and intramural experience for all UB students. "Many at that time
thought of us as being quite crazy or at least a bit phony in our
intent." One professor who waged an anti-athletic campaign maintained
it was impossible to build a strong recreational program while also
building a strong athletics program "because one is diametrically
opposed to the other," Townsend said.
	"But it is possible to build both of these programs at one
time. How do I know? Because we have done it very successfully,"
Town-send said. Use of Alumni Arena has increased dramatically, and
"record numbers of our young people and our alumni use the facility
daily."
	UB also has invested $150,000 in new weight training equipment
that is available in three locations in Alumni Arena and has upgraded
the facilities in Clark Hall.
	The second goal of UB's Run to Division I was to build a
program based on academic integrity and social responsibility,
Townsend said. "We would not require the university to change its high
academic standards to meet athletics demands," he said. "This is a
pure philosophical difference because some believe that we must
aggressively recruit some of the better known athletes and see our
athletic fortunes rise quickly."
	He humorously acknowledged that the philosophical difference
can be difficult to work through. "There are days when I am tempted to
go out and do that. I've had about all the losing football games I can
take. But you have to remember what it is you are doing and what your
mission was initially.
	"UB has chosen to recruit high quality students that happen to
be athletes. If it took us 100 years to get to this point, I hope you
can give two or three more because I think we are on the road to
making this program exactly what we want it to be," Townsend said. 
	UB's third goal was to involve students, alumni and the
community at large in all of the athletic program's efforts, he said.
	"When we started this plan in 1987-88 our students were
supporting the program on a voluntary basis, and they were giving us
some $300,000 a year....Today our students have adopted an athletic
fee and this year will contribute more than $1.4 million to...our
intercollegiate athletic program." In return students receive free
admission to UB athletic events.
	The move to Division I athletic competition also has raised
UB's visibility because scores are published nationally in the
electronic and print media, Townsend noted.


	UB's athletics program also has an impact on the business
community. "In 1993-94, we held in Alumni Arena more than 150 athletic
events," some of which brought in more than 1,000 participants in a
single weekend. "We are making a tremendous impact on the local
community," Townsend said.
	Likewise, the business community is having a tremendous impact
on athletics. In September, corporations provided UB with more than
$225,000 in support. Over a 12-year period, from 1975-1987, Townsend
said, UB received only about $63,000 of support for intercollegiate
athletics.
	To many students and alumni, UB is a best kept secret,
Town-send said. "UB's athletics program intends to become an integral
support system for the national development and recognition of an
already great university."
	In response to questions, Townsend said that UB intends to
have a "high quality marching band" to augment its athletics program.
"It's going to take some time, though, and it's going to take some
money." He estimated that it would cost roughly $500,000 to put a
marching band on the field.
	Local recruiting, Townsend admitted, is not at the level UB
would like it to be. As a result, UB is finalizing a new program that
would bring student athletes into Western New York schools to work as
student aides. "One of the things we want to do there is to tell young
people how important it is to pursue an education for what it is
really worth and not just be hanging their whole lives on becoming
professional athletes," he said.
	"One of the reasons we don't have success (recruiting) locally
(is) too many of the students from Western New York, especially the
City of Buffalo, don't have the grades. And that's important. You
can't get into UB without meeting the academic requirements." The
problem is typical of the situation throughout the country, Townsend
added.