Posts
PLU EMAL Football
December 16 at 2:41pm ·
The 12/12/17 parent meeting went
well. Around 70 parents and students were present. The first half hour was
spent by Admin explaining the hiring committee and responsibilities of each
member. Laurie and faculty member Keith Cooper will be co-chair the committee.
Other members are Nick Edwards (former EMAL), Dave Gunovich, Jen Thomas, Nolan
Soete (Head baseball Coach), EMAL’s Parker Trewet and Alex Fairhurst, SAAC
Member Machaela Graddy, and Chad Barnett (FAST member and parent).
A couple points and a rough
outline regarding the hiring process.
1. Jan 8th- Soft Application
deadline
2. Week of Jan 24th- Interviews
3. 1st week of Feb- bring top 3-5
candidates on campus
4. 2nd week of Feb- Public will
get a chance to meet the finalist
5. Offer 3rd week of Feb
Parents and Student Athletes
asked Questions for 30 minutes. Following are the areas addressed:
1. Concerns with the support of
student body with athletics on campus during recruiting tours.
2. Why is the hiring process
taking so long? Answer: It was decided by the agency. Laurie stated this is the
D3 process, unlike D1 with resources to do it in 3 days. One of the parents
mentioned that many other D3 schools are on record of hiring their coach in 4-8
weeks. Whitworth did it in exactly 4 weeks. PLU will be about 3 and a half
months.
3. What is the administrations
overall vision? Answered by President Belton was that “our vision is to have
something nicer than what George Fox has. We want you to have the continuation
of everything that comes with EMAL and nice facilities.”
4. The culture on campus and
problems with faculty
5. The disconnection between the
football program and the athletic department.
6. Where are we at with EMAL? VP
Dan Lee said that it was a very unfortunate situation pushed by President
Krise. He said for branding purposes EMAL will not be used, but may be used
internally for the team.
There is much happening within
the inner circles of the University ... budget shortfalls, low enrollment,
student retention challenges, affordability, Tenure Professor layoffs, search
for the new President, and of course issues regarding Athletic Department
leadership. Ultimately, there are reasons to remain cautiously optimistic over
our issue. Clearly, an department which meets the visions and missions of both
PLU and the NCAA requires complete overhaul of the the Athletic Director and
supporting staff leadership. Stay engaged.
………….
PLU EMAL Football
December 10 at 8:57pm ·
URGENT EMAL PARENT ALERT ... it
is important to have as many parents AND players as possible to attend the
meeting with PLU Administration this Tuesday, December 12. It could be our one
time opportunity, collectively, as paying clients to stand up, speak up and
demand answers.
What: Open forum with Admin
When: Tuesday, December 12
What Time: 7:00-8:00 pm
Where: CK East in Anderson
University Center
………………..
PLU EMAL Football
December 8 at 9:13pm ·
EMAL Nation Update ...
representatives of FAST met with President Belton and Vice-presidents Lee and
Royce-Davis last Friday, December 1st. Admittedly, FAST left the meeting with
cautious optimism ... and it was short lived.
During the meeting FAST outlined
numerous concerns regarding Laurie Turner’s leadership of the athletics
department, provided several personal examples to illustrate those concerns,
and made four initiative requests. Those requests were:
1. Immediately conduct an
Independent Investigation (with FAST involvement) of the athletics department,
including, but not limited to, the circumstances surrounding Scott’s forced
resignation and Laurie Turner’s abilities to lead the athletics department;
2. Immediately conduct a 360
degree performance evaluation of Laurie Turner (as part of the independent
investigation);
3. Discontinue any plans the
University has to publicly recognize Scott and the Westering family; and
4. Include 3 FAST representatives
on the search committee for the new head football coach.
On December 7th the University
issued a response to FAST requests. Regarding the request of an Independent
Investigation of the athletic department, a program evaluation will be
conducted by the University during the summer of 2018, as part of the process
the University uses to evaluate other student life programs of the University.
This review is being moved up in the University’s timeline from the 2019-20
academic year to the summer of 2018. However, is not independent and is far too
late from today.
Regarding the request of a 360
review, FAST is told an evaluation of Laurie Turner schedule for 2018. Again,
it is far too late from today.
The University honored our third
request. EMALs will truly honor Scott and the Westerings.
Finally, one FAST member (Chad
Barnett, class of 1993 and father of two current PLU football student-athletes)
was offered a position on the search committee for the next head coach. The
search committee will be chaired by Keith Cooper (the Faculty Athletics
Representative) and Laurie Turner. The search will proceed in the Spring of
2018. Far too late from today and lead by Laurie Turner's personal anti-EMAL
agenda.
Obviously, President Belton and
the two Vice-presidents FAST met do not understand the depth of the issues they
have in the athletics department because of Laurie Turner’s leadership. Their
failure to recognize the significance of the issues has resulted in a failure
to understand the urgency in which both the Independent Investigation and the
360 degree review of Laurie Turner needs to occur. They also fail to understand
the sense of urgency and purpose these two initiatives generate in the
requirements necessary to guide an effective, non personal agenda driven head
coach search.
Conducting the search with an
expected completion date sometime in the Spring of 2018 is a recipe for
disaster. The hiring cycle for football is now. It will be challenging to
entice a great coach to leave a team in the Spring. The delay in hiring a new
coach will negatively affect the current recruiting class as great prospective
student-athletes seldom commit to a program when they do not know who the coach
will be long term. Instead, they commit to other schools during this recruiting
cycle, as PLU fumbles along a slow path to hiring the next head football coach.
Because the leadership of PLU
continues to fail to address real issues in the athletics department, it is
time to take our cause to the next level. If you agree, we ask you to let
President Belton and the Vice-presidents know of your displeasure with their
lack of adequate response to our first two requests. If you have not done so
already, we are also asking you to voice your concerns to the PLU Board of
Regents.
FAST was recently told the forum
scheduled for December 12th from 7-8 pm is not an open forum as originally
e-mailed and posted on Facebook. Instead, Administration says the meeting is an
opportunity for the parents of current football student-athletes to communicate
with PLU administration about the situation. If you are not the parent of a
current PLU football student-athlete please do not attend this meeting. We
would hate for the meeting to be cancelled because uninvited guests attended,
thus resulting in the parents of current football student-athletes not having
their questions answered and voices heard. FAST will push President Belton and
the Vice-presidents to schedule an open forum so other interested parties can
ask questions and voice their concerns.
Finally, FAST and many others
believe it is time to leverage media in efforts to help the University see the
need for new athletics department leadership. Over the course of numerous years
and in good-faith to no avail, many EMALs and FAST have encouraged
Administration to build bridges and work with FAST and other Alumni groups.
Clearly, PLU Administration has no interest in working together and improving
Alumni relations. More details on this will follow soon. For now, continue to
voice your concerns in EMAL fashion to President Belton, the two Vice-presidents
and members of the Board of Regents. Feel free to share this post.
Although extremely disappointed,
FAST remains committed to EMAL as truth always prevails.
PLU Leadership:
Allan Belton, Interim Acting
President: president@plu.edu
Joanna Royce-Davis, VP Student
Life: roycedjc@plu.edu
Daniel Lee, VP Advancement:
leedj@plu.edu
PLU Board of Regents Officers:
Ed Grogan, Chair:
ed@summitplans.com
Mark Gould, Vice Chair:
Mark.Gould@sf.frb.org
Michelle Long, Vice Chair:
mylong@chevron.com
Mark Miller, Vice Chair:
mmiller811@comcast.net
Susan Caulkins, Vice Chair:
scaulkins@dpearson.com
Steve Whitehouse, Treasurer: whitehsm@plu.edu
………………
PLU EMAL Football added an event.
December 6 at 9:22pm ·
A student-athlete parent forum
with Administration to discuss the forced "resignation" of Scott
Westering and the hiring of a new Head football Coach. This is Parents,
Players, and Families opportunity to ask questions, get answers, and have our
voices heard. This meeting could be a drastic difference maker in the future of
our football program. Let’s use our voices in classic EMAL style and tone.
Attending the meeting will be:
Allan Belton, Acting Interim
President
Joanna Royce-Davis, Vice
President for Student Life
Daniel Lee, Vice President of
Advancement
Laurie Turner, Athletic Director
Jud Keim, Interim Head football
coach
EMAL ... the Legacy Lives in You.
…………….
