Dunn Sees Athletics Events as YSU’s Front Porch
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Athletics are the front porch of a university that welcomes visitors, fans and well-wishers inside to learn what else it has to offer, says the president of Youngstown State University, Randy Dunn.
A well-run athletics program, a college team that has a winning record in football or basketball, draws interest, support and donations – to say nothing of recruitment of faculty and students -- it wouldn’t otherwise, he recognizes.
YSU opens its football season tonight at Stambaugh Stadium where it will face the Dayton Flyers (READ SEASON PREVIEW).
Dunn is quick to cite the experience of the institution where he was president, Murray State University in Kentucky, before coming to YSU.
In the 2011-12 basketball season, 11th ranked Murray State (30-1 regular season) “had a strong run, the longest Division I winning streak, 22 or 23 games, and made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament,” Dunn recalls, before succumbing to Marquette during March Madness.
The success of that basketball team brought the equivalent of $46 million in advertising – 25% of the Murray State budget – as calculated by a public relations and advertising firm the university engaged, he says.
While the success of the basketball team resulted in “a lot of big donors” whose contributions allowed Murray State “to finish the financing of a new basketball facility,” it also resulted in “a number of big donors making gifts for academic disciplines. One was a six-figure gift to the telecommunications program, [an industry] where the donor had made his wealth.”
Success on the fields and courts provides a window on the other aspects of university life, he adds. “We can educate fans on the other dimensions of the university,” Dunn says. “If we don’t, then shame on us.”
The eighth president of YSU says he’s always been a strong fan of college football – which will make him feel at home at Stambaugh Stadium – but wasn’t much of a fan of college basketball before assuming the presidency of Murray State.
“I became more of an aficionado of college basketball,” he laughs, and he plans to sit in Beeghly Center to watch Penguins basketball, both men and women.
When Dunn spoke to The Business Journal, he had yet to meet the men’s head coach, Jerry Slocum – they had only exchanged emails – “but I plan to get involved [in supporting the basketball program],” he said.
In discussing his love of college football, Dunn observes, “There’s no better place on a crisp fall day than [somewhere] watching college football.”
He and his wife, Ronda, “will wear Penguin gear – you’ll see me in Penguin gear” in the stands of Stambaugh, he says, when he isn’t in the president’s loge.
Asked about encouraging students who aren’t on sports teams to participate, Dunn responds the university “has a responsibility to encourage good health behavior” and he intends to work with student services to do more to encourage wellness.”
As for himself, Dunn mentions “being an old band guy myself” and having gotten exercise in his student days by playing trombone in marching bands. He still plays the trombone.
Since graduation, “I jog,” he says, allowing he should find more time for exercise.
Finding the time could prove his biggest challenge because he has assumed a very demanding schedule.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story appears in our September 2013 print edition, published this week.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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