The Rams Club goes green for the second straight year.
Support for a Tar Heel athletic program under siege can come in many iterations. Most of us can say, despite the NCAA investigation and looming penalties, we still cheer for Carolina teams in all sports.
That can go one step further in sales at the box office, where UNC football and basketball continue to sell out baseball and all other Olympic sports. The big two keep drawing great crowds to the biggest games, and ticket revenue contributes a major chunk of an annual athletic budget that exceeds $80 million.
But in a world where almost everything is measured in money, the true test of how alumni and fans have remained behind their athletic teams is through donations to the Rams Club, which funds scholarships and capital improvements. This is the most extreme case of truly putting your money where your mouth is.
Certainly, Tar Heels supporters could have shown their embarrassment over an academic scandal that has tarnished UNC’s reputation, albeit unfairly, across the nation. No one could blame them for taking the wait-and-see approach until the NCAA case is finally over. Surely, there are some who use all the controversy to protest how much of a money game college sports has become.
As Joe Friday used to say, here are the facts: for the second straight year, the Rams Club has set a record for fund-raising. In 2016 it was just under $62 million. For the fiscal year that ended in 2017, the new record total is $69-plus million for scholarships to more than 500 athletes in 28 sports and new facilities that are keeping Carolina on pace with every school in the ACC and most around the country.
Executive Director John Montgomery and his staff do a superb job in not only growing the money donated but also increasing membership in the Rams Club, a sign that the next generation is beginning to step up and do what the baby boomers who are now aging out have done.
Carolina still has a smaller athletic budget than Clemson, Florida State and the major powers from other conferences. But the Rams Club has allowed UNC to meet its mission of a broad-based program and not cut sports, while providing the seed money for the massive renovations to athletic facilities going on right now.
You may be among those who think the arms race and money have gotten out of control, and I believe college athletics needs to reign it in through legislation. Until then, Carolina’s only choice to stay competitive is to continue fund-raising at record levels.
Thanks mainly to the Rams Club, UNC allows its athletes to have as good of a competitive and educational experience as available.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines