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Football transforms Georgia State University
Downtown Atlanta gets more school spiritBy Dorie Turner
Associated Press
Friday, Nov. 5, 2010
ATLANTA --- For years, Georgia State University struggled to shed its commuter college reputation by building dorms and a student center, hoping to draw more activity to the sleepy downtown Atlanta campus.
The bookstore had trouble selling T-shirts. On evenings and Saturdays, the campus was a ghost town. Homecoming -- held in the spring, not the fall -- was a joke among students and alumni.
That's when the 30,000-student university made one of the costliest decisions in higher education: starting a football team. Now the campus is awash in the university's bright blue, alumni who've not been to campus in decades flock to games, and students are calling downtown their home.
"Football is just a staple of all universities across the South, and the fact that we now have a football team and we're in the heart of downtown Atlanta, it just brings a certain bit of oomph to our university," said Tony Price, a senior, as he readied to go to the Panthers' Homecoming football game a few weeks ago.
"The first day they played their football game, I felt the value of my degree ... " Price said, before his friend, senior Sam Chukwuma, jumped in excitedly.
" ... go up. It did, I felt it," said Chukwuma.
The university has spent $8.6 million in the past two years on the team -- all from private donors and a special student fee collected each semester. That's a hefty tab for a state university amid the worst economic recession in modern history, but university President Mark Becker says the football program is worth the cost.
Alumni association membership has nearly doubled to 3,300 in seven months. Student applications hit a record 12,091 for this fall.
And the money is rolling in: Donations since the football team was announced in 2007 are up 16 percent compared with the three years prior. Giving to the football program alone has reached nearly $3 million in that time.
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2010-11-05/football-transforms-georgia-state-university
Downtown Atlanta gets more school spiritBy Dorie Turner
Associated Press
Friday, Nov. 5, 2010
ATLANTA --- For years, Georgia State University struggled to shed its commuter college reputation by building dorms and a student center, hoping to draw more activity to the sleepy downtown Atlanta campus.
The bookstore had trouble selling T-shirts. On evenings and Saturdays, the campus was a ghost town. Homecoming -- held in the spring, not the fall -- was a joke among students and alumni.
That's when the 30,000-student university made one of the costliest decisions in higher education: starting a football team. Now the campus is awash in the university's bright blue, alumni who've not been to campus in decades flock to games, and students are calling downtown their home.
"Football is just a staple of all universities across the South, and the fact that we now have a football team and we're in the heart of downtown Atlanta, it just brings a certain bit of oomph to our university," said Tony Price, a senior, as he readied to go to the Panthers' Homecoming football game a few weeks ago.
"The first day they played their football game, I felt the value of my degree ... " Price said, before his friend, senior Sam Chukwuma, jumped in excitedly.
" ... go up. It did, I felt it," said Chukwuma.
The university has spent $8.6 million in the past two years on the team -- all from private donors and a special student fee collected each semester. That's a hefty tab for a state university amid the worst economic recession in modern history, but university President Mark Becker says the football program is worth the cost.
Alumni association membership has nearly doubled to 3,300 in seven months. Student applications hit a record 12,091 for this fall.
And the money is rolling in: Donations since the football team was announced in 2007 are up 16 percent compared with the three years prior. Giving to the football program alone has reached nearly $3 million in that time.
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2010-11-05/football-transforms-georgia-state-university