Kennedy vs. Engelstad Foundation: GF herald feature

[UND-FB-FAN]

32 minutes ago, Csonked Out said:

she is the same person that pulled a $14 million gift to her alma matter because they forced out the president in March that she wanted. She seems like she tries to control things on a university level with the foundation gifts and endowment funds.

Bingo, and hence, we have a pattern that supports my thoughts that this UND-REA inc. agreement has essentially sold the betterment of UND athletics as a whole into the hands of the Engelstads (and therefore nothing happens unless it's for hockey). Even if UND wanted to provide more funds to football and/or basketball, they wouldn't be able to due to the Engelstads. This gets brought up to McGarry by Kennedy and apparently she, as her history suggests, goes berserk and tries to use the impulsive North Dakota public opinion of Kennedy to aid her. 

[Hockeygirl97]

I just can't believe anyone on this forum is defending that jerk of a president after his dog and pony show of parading coaches and players in front of a committee that never decided anything.  He's dead to me after that.  And she's right.  Tom Clifford was the best president we ever had, and we need to go back to someone w/ some North Dakota roots instead of a crappy pol from Minnesota.  Oh, and if I was president of the Champions Club who gets all the extra money add-on money from ticket sales, I'd be in his office telling him what an idiot he is.  Wait until the REA contract is up and screw it up then as you will.  I only hope he's not still president at that point. 

[Frozen4sioux]

1 minute ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Bingo, and hence, we have a pattern that supports my thoughts that this UND-REA inc. agreement has essentially sold the betterment of UND athletics as a whole into the hands of the Engelstads (and therefore nothing happens unless it's for hockey). Even if UND wanted to provide more funds to football and/or basketball, they wouldn't be able to due to the Engelstads. This gets brought up to McGarry by Kennedy and apparently she, as her history suggests, goes berserk and tries to use the impulsive North Dakota public opinion of Kennedy to aid her. 

The ethical and logical flaws in your presumptive and innacurate conclusions, due to your psychotic fixation of percieved injustice, viewed through such a narrow objective lens..... are truly astounding.

How you can possibly be a functioning adult is either an impressive string of luck or the result of exemplary multi-tier support systems that enable continued survival.

 

[siouxkid12]

On 5/10/2018 at 10:27 AM, fightingsioux4life said:

No, RALPH ENGELSTAD is our most prominent donor. But since he's dead, MISS McGarry is representing the foundation he made possible. And she is proving to be more difficult to deal with. Especially since she felt it necessary to point out that her dad was a UND alum, but no one else in the family is. The implication being she doesn't really care about our institution like her dad did. That doesn't sit well with me and others who love this place like a second home.

I normally don't agree with all your statements but I 100% agree with you. Hockey is no bigger than the University as a whole and that is what Kennedy is trying to fight. 

[siouxkid12]

On 5/10/2018 at 10:19 AM, fightingsioux4life said:

So MISS McGarry gets to run UND from Vegas? Sorry, no dice. Kennedy doesn't work for MISS McGarry. He works for the State Board of Higher Education and, indirectly, for us.

Don't forget most of the money brought into the foundation is wired back to Vegas so their other donations to UNLV can be made. We do all the work up here in North Dakota only for other places to benefit. As an alumni that does not sit well with me

[Frozen4sioux]

1 minute ago, siouxkid12 said:

I normally don't agree with all your statements but I 100% agree with you. Hockey is no bigger than the University as a whole and that is what Kennedy is trying to fight. 

I agree Hockey is no bigger than the University as a whole. 

But make no mistake...

Kennedy CAN NOT win a fight he picks with Hockey. He doesnt have the capital, the staying power or the standing to be successful. He needs to find a better approach.

[Frozen4sioux]

1 minute ago, siouxkid12 said:

Don't forget most of the money brought into the foundation is wired back to Vegas so their other donations to UNLV can be made. We do all the work up here in North Dakota only for other places to benefit. As an alumni that does not sit well with me

Wait...

Who told you the money raised at RES is sent away from North Dakota?

 

[Blackheart]

Hard for me to have any support for Kennedy...here's a guy interviewing at other schools and pissing off a major donor.  Seems like things that would not be in his job description.

[UND-FB-FAN]

40 minutes ago, Frozen4sioux said:

The ethical and logical flaws in your presumptive and innacurate conclusions, due to your psychotic fixation of percieved injustice, viewed through such a narrow objective lens..... are truly astounding.

How you can possibly be a functioning adult is either an impressive string of luck or the result of exemplary multi-tier support systems that enable continued survival.

 

 

14 minutes ago, Frozen4sioux said:

I agree Hockey is no bigger than the University as a whole. 

But make no mistake...

Kennedy CAN NOT win a fight he picks with Hockey. He doesnt have the capital, the staying power or the standing to be successful. He needs to find a better approach.

There you go again, perfectly representing said impulsive public opinion. You again try to personally insult me with some asinine survival of the fittest scenario in hope your unfounded points somehow stick. But, shortly thereafter, you again show your true hypocritical colors by claiming all that matters is capital and the untouchable hockey program. Those very points (capital - REA inc.; hockey vs entire university) are the very matters that need alteration. I agree with your comment that the approach Kennedy used obviously could've been different; however, his intentions I yet support as of now.

[UND-1]

Seems to me that people are starting to realize why Kennedy wanted to negotiate things.  Whether he said stuff wrong is not the point.  She is using his reactions and phrasing as a distraction to the real issues.  

The contracts are not what they should be.

[siouxkid12]

1 minute ago, Frozen4sioux said:

Wait...

Who told you the money raised at RES is sent away from North Dakota?

 

The Engelstad foundation still runs the arena

 

11 minutes ago, Frozen4sioux said:

Wait...

Who told you the money raised at RES is sent away from North Dakota?

 

In an old article written by Michael Benedict Ralph stated that any profit made by the REA would be donated back to UND. Now I am going to assume that the REA runs off of a profit otherwise they wouldn't be operating it. My question is, where is all the profit money going....back to the Engelstad Foundation...

[UNDBIZ]

43 minutes ago, Hockeygirl97 said:

I just can't believe anyone on this forum is defending that jerk of a president after his dog and pony show of parading coaches and players in front of a committee that never decided anything.  He's dead to me after that.  And she's right.  Tom Clifford was the best president we ever had, and we need to go back to someone w/ some North Dakota roots instead of a crappy pol from Minnesota.  Oh, and if I was president of the Champions Club who gets all the extra money add-on money from ticket sales, I'd be in his office telling him what an idiot he is.  Wait until the REA contract is up and screw it up then as you will.  I only hope he's not still president at that point. 

 

2 hours ago, Teeder11 said:

This was a faculty-led IAC production, not the president. Before this, Kennedy did ask the IAC to thoroughly "examine" UND's athletics' offerings (see below) but not the manner in which it should be done.

He did, however, attend the meeting that you reference, as he should have, as a very interested party in the decision making process. The IAC gave him a front and center seat for the presentations. That image was on the front page of the Herald the next day. This and the reporting may have cemented the perception that it was Kennedy that demanded the presentations.

EDIT:  Oops forgot to include the excerpt from the campus message from Aug. 16, 2016...here it is:

I am asking a subgroup of the elected Intercollegiate Athletics Committee (IAC) to examine UND Athletics to make sure we have an athletics program that best fits the University of North Dakota in terms of a number of factors, including the sports we participate in, conference participation, the number of athletes that we serve, and the cost of the programs.  The IAC serves as an advisory committee to University Senate and my office, making recommendations on matters pertaining to institutional control of the athletics program; the academic and financial integrity of intercollegiate athletics; the academic and personal well-being of student-athletes; gender equity; non-discrimination and diversity; and the accountability of the athletics program to the values and mission of the University. 

This action is a continuation of a conversation started by Interim President Ed Schafer, who suggested that the University take a hard look at our athletics program with an eye to ensuring we have the right number and mix of Division I athletic programs. I want to conclude that process by the end of the calendar year.

I want to be clear: I am pro-Athletics. I am proud of our student-athletes, who are successful as athletes and who perform well in the classroom. They are also engaged in the community, contributing more than 9,500 hours of service in FY16.  But I also want to be clear that we need to make sure we have Athletics program that is the right fit for the University. I appreciate the committee helping us with this important task.

 

[Cratter]

8 minutes ago, siouxkid12 said:

The Engelstad foundation still runs the arena.

Where you get this stuff?

A board runs it. Just like a Corporation and most have ties to Grand Forks or UND.

This board has gone all sorts of crazy! UND profits get funnelled to Engelstad foundation where they get donated to UNLV. UND mens hockey is supporting hockey at UNLV!

 

[UNDBIZ]

Just now, Cratter said:

Where you get this stuff?

A board runs it. Just like a Corporation and most have ties to Grand Forks or UND.

 

Who picks the board members? 

Honest question. 

[stoneySIOUX]

Well, at least we have something to argue about this Summer. 

[Oxbow6]

13 minutes ago, UND-1 said:

Seems to me that people are starting to realize why Kennedy wanted to negotiate things.  Whether he said stuff wrong is not the point.  She is using his reactions and phrasing as a distraction to the real issues.  

The contracts are not what they should be.

You are giving Kennedy a complete pass. He has not refuted one conversation McGarry has mentioned publically. Maybe she feels he is a prick and doesn't want to go into further negotiations based on his lack of professionalism and leadership?

[UNDvince97-01]

8 minutes ago, UNDBIZ said:

Who picks the board members? 

Honest question. 

[Teeder11]

1 hour ago, Hockeygirl97 said:

I just can't believe anyone on this forum is defending that jerk of a president after his dog and pony show of parading coaches and players in front of a committee that never decided anything.  He's dead to me after that.  And she's right.  Tom Clifford was the best president we ever had, and we need to go back to someone w/ some North Dakota roots instead of a crappy pol from Minnesota.  Oh, and if I was president of the Champions Club who gets all the extra money add-on money from ticket sales, I'd be in his office telling him what an idiot he is.  Wait until the REA contract is up and screw it up then as you will.  I only hope he's not still president at that point. 

I see my friend, UNDBIZ, dredged up my earlier clarification. I'll leave it at that. Although, I would love to know what source gave you the impression MRK called for the dog-and-pony show?  If you want, you can IM me, too. Just curious.

Secondly, I knew Tom Clifford personally in his latter years as president and through his retirement years in Grand Forks. I wrote the story about him receiving his Roughrider Award and just missed out on writing his obit, and rightly so, as it was veteran and much-better writer Chuck Haga who got that sad honor.  Tom was a great guy and was loyal to his roots no question. But his legend has become almost Reaganesque. Tom had his difficult challenges, bitter rivals and outright enemies, too. One of the more trying times was his fight to turn UND Med School into a four-year institution instead of sending our med students out of state for the their final two years. Those were hard, nasty fights in the Legislature. Tom also had the benefit leading during a time when there was no social media --so quick to assassinate characters and cast aspersions based on speculation,  no such thing as e-mail, and at a time when the media wouldn't have known an open-records request if it smacked them in the face. 

No question, Tom was great and a good fit for the University IN HIS TIME ...but his great legend has super-sized to tall-tale status in recent years.

Thirdly, MRK may not have deep N.D. roots but he is not without state ties. His father worked at banks in Golva and Hunter, North Dakota, his great-uncle taught school in Bottineau and his sister was born in Fargo. His wife, Debbie, was raised 30 miles east of Fargo in Hawley, Minn., and received her undergraduate degree from North Dakota State University, according to an Associated Press report from 2016.

[Nodak78]

11 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

You are giving Kennedy a complete pass. He has not refuted one conversation McGarry has mentioned publically. Maybe she feels he is a prick and doesn't want to go into further negotiations based on his lack of professionalism and leadership?

Pres Kennedy would be foolish to negotiate in public.  That is what McGarry is trying to do.

[UNDBIZ]

13 minutes ago, UNDvince97-01 said:

Is it the Engelstad Foundation? I really don't know. 

[Oxbow6]

21 minutes ago, Nodak78 said:

Pres Kennedy would be foolish to negotiate in public.  That is what McGarry is trying to do.

Never said he needed to negotiate in public but the "I don't recall" bit doesn't hold water.  I have a hard time believing McGarry would make something up that Kennedy allegedly said negatively about her father Ralph or threatening to pulling the BB teams out of the Betty.

[UND1983]

21 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

You are giving Kennedy a complete pass. He has not refuted one conversation McGarry has mentioned publically. Maybe she feels he is a prick and doesn't want to go into further negotiations based on his lack of professionalism and leadership?

Maybe true.  But maybe she is also highlighting those negotiation issues to deflect from the real issue of the contracts.  Has she ever addressed those issues, ya know, the one's that are actually the problem? 

It's like a parent telling their kid: "don't listen to how the coach is saying it, listen to what he is saying".  

What is Kennedy really saying?

 

[The Sicatoka]

If TK (who I really liked) was that good, why didn't he lock down the nickname forever. 

[The Sicatoka]

Who's talking about what was said and how they said it.
Who's talking about issues and solutions. 

It's similar to the notion that I choose to fix the problem, and not the blame. 

[Cratter]

Brad Berry thanked her for her help in his new contract.

Did Kennedy not only threaten to sue and pull the basketball teams out, but also not give Berry any money for raises?