The Homecoming announcement

[gfhockey]

Overheard some UND faculty talking about the big announcement next month which i assume will be around homecoming. Hear is what I overhead while doing some pipe inspections: pretty sure one of them was pretty high up not gunna say who i think he is either

300 million (not lieing either)

Indoor arena

Scholarship program

Naming of the business school

[82SiouxGuy]

Overheard some UND faculty talking about the big announcement next month which i assume will be around homecoming. Hear is what I overhead while doing some pipe inspections: pretty sure one of them was pretty high up not gunna say who i think he is either

300 million (not lieing either)

Indoor arena

Scholarship program

Naming of the business school

Mr. Faison talked about an announcement regarding the indoor practice facility coming at Homecoming. In this thread it mentions a big announcement coming on October 8th, the Friday of Homecoming week (the quoted paragraphs are from the latest Alumni News). You could be onto something.

[siouxfan123]

If we are talking $300 million then something like this would be perfect.....

http://football.ballparks.com/CFL/Winnipeg/newindex.htm

33,000 seats which can be expanded to 44,000 with temporary seating. From what i understand most of the seats will be covered all the time and there is a way to cover the entire stadium for winter use ().. and all at a cost of only ~ CAD$120 million (I am getting this info from Wikipedia, so I don't know the exact specifics)

Seems something like this would be perfect for our invitation to the WAC.

[crashnburn]

If these figures mentioned are accurate, I wouldn't be surprised if this donation was the impetus behind the expedited retirement of the nickname.

[gfhockey]

The only thing I couldn't really believe what I heard was the 300 million part. Im sure we have all heard about the indoor stadium and that fundrasising. But 300 million is a lot of money. Almost three REAs haha.

But im 100% positive they said 300 M.

I hope this wasn't just work gossip but these two guys seemed pretty giddy about it.

[Hammersmith]

The only thing I couldn't really believe what I heard was the 300 million part. Im sure we have all heard about the indoor stadium and that fundrasising. But 300 million is a lot of money. Almost three REAs haha.

But im 100% positive they said 300 M.

I hope this wasn't just work gossip but these two guys seemed pretty giddy about it.

I could see $300 million being part of an announcement, but probably not in the way you're thinking. IIRC, UND's endowment is somewhere between $120-150 million, with the total assets of the Development Foundation approaching $200 million. All that info is a little old. If there have been some major donations, it's possible the total value of the DF has hit $300 million. Also, there could be an announcement of a campaign to get the endowment or total assets to $300 million. Another option is a campus-wide development campaign that would raise $300 million for a variety of projects(endowments, fellowships, academic & athletic buildings, etc), much like the $100 million campaign NDSU concluded a few years back. A final possibility is a legacy of the Kuppy years. Kuppy announced an effort to build the endowment to $500 million. Completely unrealistic within 25 years, much less the <10 years he proposed. $300 million would be about the amount left if you use the current total assets of the DF. It's possible(but nowhere near probable) that a $300 million campaign could be started to get the DF to Kuppy's $500 million.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that $300 million is very possible as some sort of upcoming goal, but I doubt that amount of new money is currently in hand.

[The Sicatoka]

I stand by my statement here and three posts after that.

Tim O'Keefe is one heck of a bowler.

[siouxfan123]

I stand by my statement here and three posts after that.

Tim O'Keefe is one heck of a bowler.

This is all speculation on my part, but fun none the less.

In your previous post you said Tim can bowl 184 out of 300 (pretty good score). 300 is the common number between that post and this one. It sounds like whatever the announcement is, it revolves around 300, more than likely $300 million.

Now what about 184? I think we have $184 million out of a $300 million project in hand to build something pretty sweet. Maybe the $184 million is what we need to build phase one? Tim used the word "big" in quotes in his write up, so if we are building something, its going to be big.

The OP talked about scholarships, maybe we have found funding for all athletic scholarships to be competitive and Title IX compliant?

[star2city]

This is all speculation on my part, but fun none the less.

In your previous post you said Tim can bowl 184 out of 300 (pretty good score). 300 is the common number between that post and this one. It sounds like whatever the announcement is, it revolves around 300, more than likely $300 million.

Now what about 184? I think we have $184 million out of a $300 million project in hand to build something pretty sweet. Maybe the $184 million is what we need to build phase one? Tim used the word "big" in quotes in his write up, so if we are building something, its going to be big.

The OP talked about scholarships, maybe we have found funding for all athletic scholarships to be competitive and Title IX compliant?

Maybe another interpretation is that $184 of a $300 stretch target has been raised.. Let's see: the new Winnipeg Stadium under construction for 33,000 people costs $C105 . For 25,000 people, a similar stadium could be more like $70. A rolling roof concept, like that proposed for the Kaufman / Arrowhead complex might be about half the stadium cost. Throw in a new building for the Business College and assorted scholarships with what's left over.

[darell1976]

Maybe we can get a new stadium and use the Alerus as an indoor practice facility.

[star2city]

Maybe we can get a new stadium and use the Alerus as an indoor practice facility.

If indeed there is real substantive talk of a football stadium, how the city would deal with even greater Alerus losses would be a major political issue.

Going back to the last years of Kupchella, there had long been rumors that a group of very wealthy donors really had wanted to make an impact. Sounds like we find out on Homecoming Friday.

[The Sicatoka]

Folks, this may be the UND Athletics board but there is more to UND than just Athletics.

I'd be disappointed if any new campaign didn't address all aspects of UND (students, faculty, programs, facilities).

[Hammersmith]

Folks, this may be the UND Athletics board but there is more to UND than just Athletics.

I'd be disappointed if any new campaign didn't address all aspects of UND (students, faculty, programs, facilities).

I don't think you have to worry about that. "Ignite the Spirit" will include athletics, but I'm sure the vast majority will go to academics. I think Momentum at NDSU was pretty standard; $100M total, <$10M to athletics. In your case, I would expect the IPF and maybe the outdoor track. The rest will go to academic buildings, fellowships, and the largest single chunk will go into the general scholarship endowment. I'm also fairly certain that several of the donations we've heard about over the last couple years(the $20M from the Englesteads, for example) are part of Ignite the Spirit. $184M of $300M would be about the right amount of money to move from the private phase of the campaign to the public phase.

[star2city]

Folks, this may be the UND Athletics board but there is more to UND than just Athletics.

I'd be disappointed if any new campaign didn't address all aspects of UND (students, faculty, programs, facilities).

Whoever the donors are in the silent phase, normally they have very specific designations. One donor may designate entirely to the business school, while a former football player may just want his donation toward another goal. Once the campaign kicks, areas of need that didn't get specific donations would be highlighted. If $184 truly is the number, most of that is likely designated very specifically.

[GeauxSioux]

Folks, this may be the UND Athletics board but there is more to UND than just Athletics.

I'd be disappointed if any new campaign didn't address all aspects of UND (students, faculty, programs, facilities).

By my usual postings you can tell that I'm more about UND as whole and not just sports and I'm hopeful that this campaign covers a lot of areas of need.

That being said, I'm thinking that athletics will be hugely impacted by the announcement. The fact that Tim O'Keefe is bursting with excitement along with this from press release...

Ignite the Spirit: Be part of what everyone will be talking about the next day.

Sure people like me will be talking about it the next day regardless if athletics is impacted or not, but when i see "everyone will be talking about the next day", I'm thinking something ginormous is coming.

[choyt3]

Maybe the announcement will be that negotiations dealing with the process of removing the nickname and logo from the REA have reached an impasse. UND will no longer have a relationship with REA as the host of the UND hockey team and the University has secured funding for a new arena to be built in the footprint of "old" REA that will house the hockey programs. This new arena will be part of a complex that will include an open air football stadium, a multi-purpose all season indoor practice facility, as well as an office complex that will house UND athletics offices that are currently in the Hyslop Sports Center. The present REA will follow this announcement by UND with a press conference of their own setting forth the details of major Junior Canadian hockey coming to their arena in the form of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, who will be the newest team in the Western Hockey League.

This is all just wild speculation of course.

[fightingsioux4life]

Maybe the announcement will be that negotiations dealing with the process of removing the nickname and logo from the REA have reached an impasse. UND will no longer have a relationship with REA as the host of the UND hockey team and the University has secured funding for a new arena to be built in the footprint of "old" REA that will house the hockey programs. This new arena will be part of a complex that will include an open air football stadium, a multi-purpose all season indoor practice facility, as well as an office complex that will house UND athletics offices that are currently in the Hyslop Sports Center. The present REA will follow this announcement by UND with a press conference of their own setting forth the details of major Junior Canadian hockey coming to their arena in the form of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, who will be the newest team in the Western Hockey League.

This is all just wild speculation of course.

I realize your post was tongue in cheek, but Canadian Major Junior hockey would never work in Grand Forks. I wouldn't give it the time of day and a lot of other fans wouldn't either. Major Junior is the enemy, the antithesis of what College Hockey is all about. I really don't care how talented the kids are in the CHL, the fact that Major Junior honchos would destroy the College game if they could and the arrogance of CHL fans make my decision to not set foot in one of their arenas easy. Unless REA got a bunch of Winnipeg residents to bus down for every home game, it would be a disaster for them financially and in every other way. UND and REA need each other; it's a symbiotic relationship that must be nurtured and strengthened as we move forward into the future.

[CMSioux]

Okay but how about city leagues for men, women, co-ed and kids headquartered in The Ralph and every team has Fighting Sioux in the name? Fighting Sioux Blue, West Side Fighingig Sioux, Fighting Sioux I, II, III etc. This is a little tongue in cheek but it would be a way to keep the name in the community and for The Ralph to continue to be the Home of the Fighting Sioux.

UND would have to give permission for the use of the name however.

[BobIwabuchiFan]

Any news on the big announcement? Possibly that we might get into the Summit sometime in the near future?

BobIwabuchiFan

[The Whistler]

Okay but how about city leagues for men, women, co-ed and kids headquartered in The Ralph and every team has Fighting Sioux in the name? Fighting Sioux Blue, West Side Fighingig Sioux, Fighting Sioux I, II, III etc. This is a little tongue in cheek but it would be a way to keep the name in the community and for The Ralph to continue to be the Home of the Fighting Sioux.

UND would have to give permission for the use of the name however.

No they wouldn't. The only thing the University owns is the logo (s). (I assume the geometric logo is owned as well.) They aren't and can't give the rights to the logo to anyone but one or both of the Sioux tribes. I doubt they will even had that shred of decency.

[GeauxSioux]

I haven't heard any further scuttlebutt on the Homecoming announcement. Anybody else?

The one thing that was mentioned in this thread was the School of Business was getting named (sizable donation?). I know that JLG has had a drawing up on their site for quite some time. I wonder if this is what is being proposed??

If you poke around under the "Higher Education" and "Sports" tabs on the website, you see some projects haven't been built. I have a feeling some of this has been in the works for quite some time. Looking forward to the Big Announcement.

[fightingsioux4life]

This had better be something big and not naming a scholarship after someone that graduated in the 1960's. I hate it when there are teasers that end up being much to do about nothing.

I really hope it's our long-awaited announcement that we have a conference home.

[star2city]

I haven't heard any further scuttlebutt on the Homecoming announcement. Anybody else?

The one thing that was mentioned in this thread was the School of Business was getting named (sizable donation?). I know that JLG has had a drawing up on their site for quite some time. I wonder if this is what is being proposed??

If you poke around under the "Higher Education" and "Sports" tabs on the website, you see some projects haven't been built. I have a feeling some of this has been in the works for quite some time. Looking forward to the Big Announcement.

That School of Business design had been released before the economic downturn in 2008. It might finally have the money now or there might be entirely different plans (like a move downtown). JLG has also released designs that never came to fruition (like Aerospace dorm for training pilots).

I really hope it's our long-awaited announcement that we have a conference home.

Considering that the announcement is coming from the UND Foundation, that's highly unlikely. Hopefully, though, the result would help in that effort.

[GeauxSioux]

There is countdown for the Ignite the Spirit campaign.

[gfhockey]

Just a FYI

The announcment will be at 3pm in the chester fritz on october 8th.