Contributing Writer John Curran<\/p>\n
Why\u00a0doesn\u2019t Hood College have a football team? Many have asked this question. I should warn you that I did not expect the topic to be so complex. After all, I knew nothing about football. My first interview was with Tom Dickman, Hood College Athletic Director. As I was walking down the long isolated hallway to get to the interview, I thought, \u201cwhat have I gotten myself into?\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2014, the board of trustees requested that a feasibility study be done to see whether or not Hood College should establish a football team. A committee was setup to facilitate the study and manage the research process. The committee was chaired by Dr. Olivia White, Dean of Students. \u201cThe rationale behind the board\u2019s decision was to increase enrollment and to draw interest to the college within the Frederick Community,\u201d said Chuck Mann, Vice President of Finance and Treasurer. College enrollment among high school graduates has been down nationwide.<\/p>\n
The feasibility study was never completed. The board of trustees along with President Andrea Chapdelaine, decided to put the
\nstudy on hold indefinitely when Chapdelaine became president. \u201cPresident Chapdelaine put the study on hold, because she thought there were more pressing issues,\u201d said Dickman. When I asked Tom Dickman if he was a proponent of a football team, he never answered the question. He went straight into the history of the football team discussion.<\/p>\n
If you are interested in what these pressing issues were, you are not alone. I went into my interview with Chuck Mann wondering what were these concerning issues? So I asked. \u201cThe most important issue was that it was unfair to President Chapdelaine to have to deal with such a controversial debate in the first months of her presidency,\u201d said Mann. The feasibility study was going to be presented to the board of trustees in October 2015. President Chapdelaine didn\u2019t start until July 2015.<\/p>\n
Included in the feasibility study was a survey. The survey was given to current students, faculty and staff, as well as alumni. \u201cThe results of the study showed that the majority of respondents had a negative opinion on whether the college should establish a football team,\u201d said Mann.
\n\u201cOne of the major concerns expressed in the comment section of the survey was that Hood\u2019s academic quality would diminish.\u201d However, Georgetown is a Division III school; they have a football team, and their academic rank has not been affected.<\/p>\n
When Hood was considering the idea of a football team, they looked at other schools within Division III. A school that they had particular interest in was Stevenson University. Stevenson was also experiencing low college enrollment and had established a football team in 2011. \u201cThey have had really good results,\u201d said Mann.<\/p>\n
While Hood never reached the point of conducting a cost\/benefit analysis, expenses were an obvious factor. \u201cOne of the major problems we would have to face is that we are land locked,\u201d said Dickman. Therefore, in order to even build a stadium, we would have to buy land away from the campus. Other expenses would include equipment, a locker room that would house at least 160 players, and a practice field.<\/p>\n
A desire to increase enrollment was the basis of the board\u2019s decision. \u201cWhen you have a football team you need to have at least 100 players,\u201d said Dickman. Enrollment would increase through the recruitment of players and the creation of a marching band. According to Dickman, with an enrollment increase would come the expense of building more dorms.<\/p>\n
The college also considered a football program as a way to engage the Frederick community. \u201cFootball is more than just a sport, it has become such a part of American culture,\u201d said Mann. Many people watch football games for the social aspect. The football season would increase social life on campus. The college saw a football program as a way to bring alumni back to campus. \u201cSchools with a football team often have a more engaged alumni, \u201csaid Dickman. \u201cIf you think about it, many homecomings are centered around a football game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those opposed to a football program argue that there have been other programs put in place to increase enrollment. Hood has established two new Masters programs, a doctoral program in organizational leadership, and added several new majors. \u201cThe college is like any other business, it has to keep evolving,\u201d said Mann. \u201cIf you aren\u2019t evolving than you will constantly be behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
With growing concern over concussions and the negative effects it has on the brain, would it be worth it for Hood to invest millions of dollars into creating a program that could harm the health of its students? \u201cIf we decide not to set up a football team we won\u2019t be preventing students from getting concussions because potential players will go to other schools; however, that doesn\u2019t mean we have to have blood on our hands,\u201d said Mann. Mann was originally supportive of a football team until he watched the movie \u201cConcussion”. \u201cThe movie was eye- opening,\u201d said Mann.<\/p>\n
With the school\u2019s strategic plan coming to an end this June, the board of trustees along with the college\u2019s administration is in the process of drafting a new 10-year strategic plan. The new strategic plan will be approved in June. \u201cIf there is wording in the plan to the effect of increasing enrollment through sports, then maybe we will revisit the feasibility study,\u201d said Mann. \u201cIf the wording is not in place, then there is no need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Will there ever be a football team at Hood? Stay tuned<\/p>\n
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