Introduction
Lamar University located in Beaumont Texas, was founded by Mirabeau B Lamar in 1923, and is home to over 15,000 students, faculty and administration. In an effort to service their students Lamar University “engages and empowers students with the skills and knowledge to thrive in their personal lives and chosen fields of endeavor.”
In 2010 Lamar University reestablished their football program after it was disbanded in 1989. Initially the return ignited excitement …show more content…
2006, pg12). Brand addresses one of the many ways for universities to increase revenue is through alumni donations. For a university alumni donations make up a huge portion of the income especially for programs that operate at a loss. In Fourth down and gold to go? Assessing the link between athletics and alumni giving the author studies the link between winning programs and alumni giving. The information shows that alumni are willing to support a winning program. Baade writes “colleges and universities seem to be rewarded by their alumni for sports programs that are extremely successful.” (Baade 1996) This concept can be linked into my first concept on winning displaying how each individual concept still ties in to create a more concise …show more content…
In order to improve the problem they must first figure out why fans and the community support has dwindled. Lamar should send surveys out to students and alumni to find out why they aren’t supporting the school. The school can send out emails and have the alumni and students vote on what they believe is the problem with the school’s athletics. Another step could be set up a website where people can write out problems and suggest possible solutions to generate more fan involvement.
Alumni donations are an untapped revenue stream that Lamar needs to spend more time on. Lamar doesn’t really have an alumni section or anything that alumni can call their own. The school can develop ways to incorporate the alumni so they can feel included of the process. For example when you donate a certain amount your name can get engraved on the wall of the basketball arena.
The biggest way to change perception would be winning. That requires Lamar to invest in the program in order to see substantial results. Lamar could invest in the program and hire coaches who will lead to the team being more successful even if the price tag is higher. Community and student support will increase leading to a bump in revenues because numbers prove that schools who are more successful have athletic departments that generate a