01-14-2026, 10:55 AM
Great insights in this thread.
A few points:
1) Undergrad Population: The university has wanted to increase the undergraduate population for some time. The challenges with the GUP, Joe Simitian, Santa Clara AND San Mateo counties have been the problem. Simitian is retiring and Levin and team are doing things thoughtfully to take another swing at getting a new GUP passed. It's going to take time and I don't see a path to +2500 in the near term. Hennessy stated the dealing with the GUP was the most challenging/painful issue of his tenure.
2) Nerd Nation - I have an undergrad at Stanford now and my others also went there. Yes, it is "nerdier," but I think some of that is a) the rise of the Silicon Valley/Tech over the last 30+ years and Stanford's strong ties to it as well as b) the overall ratcheting/competitiveness of the college admissions process - it's brutal and I feel for these kids. CS has now become the largest major at Stanford. That said, there is still a core group of students who are real fans and go to games, despite the current challenges of football and basketball. That was me back in the mid/late 80's, when it wasn't hard to get a court seat in Maples for a hoops game vs UofA, UNC (Jordan) or UCLA. We get a bunch of these kids to our tailgates and they are just as enthusiastic as we were.
3) Numbers - After BC's excellent post, I just reread some of my notes for FY24/25: Broadcast contribution was $10M, Conference was $5M and NCAA was $1.9, so your $15M is right on. Overall Operating Rev was $140.7. Here's to the just announced BTS concerts adding to these numbers!
4) Giving: Yes, it would be wonderful to have a "Mark Cuban" throw money at the problem and that's what Shayne and Co will try to do following on Brad's $50M gift, but that's going to take time. I expect to hear of more donations soon. Hennessy was able to get Phil to donate $400M for the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program, so there are worthy and competing priorities across the University for those types of BIG donations.
A few points:
1) Undergrad Population: The university has wanted to increase the undergraduate population for some time. The challenges with the GUP, Joe Simitian, Santa Clara AND San Mateo counties have been the problem. Simitian is retiring and Levin and team are doing things thoughtfully to take another swing at getting a new GUP passed. It's going to take time and I don't see a path to +2500 in the near term. Hennessy stated the dealing with the GUP was the most challenging/painful issue of his tenure.
2) Nerd Nation - I have an undergrad at Stanford now and my others also went there. Yes, it is "nerdier," but I think some of that is a) the rise of the Silicon Valley/Tech over the last 30+ years and Stanford's strong ties to it as well as b) the overall ratcheting/competitiveness of the college admissions process - it's brutal and I feel for these kids. CS has now become the largest major at Stanford. That said, there is still a core group of students who are real fans and go to games, despite the current challenges of football and basketball. That was me back in the mid/late 80's, when it wasn't hard to get a court seat in Maples for a hoops game vs UofA, UNC (Jordan) or UCLA. We get a bunch of these kids to our tailgates and they are just as enthusiastic as we were.
3) Numbers - After BC's excellent post, I just reread some of my notes for FY24/25: Broadcast contribution was $10M, Conference was $5M and NCAA was $1.9, so your $15M is right on. Overall Operating Rev was $140.7. Here's to the just announced BTS concerts adding to these numbers!
4) Giving: Yes, it would be wonderful to have a "Mark Cuban" throw money at the problem and that's what Shayne and Co will try to do following on Brad's $50M gift, but that's going to take time. I expect to hear of more donations soon. Hennessy was able to get Phil to donate $400M for the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program, so there are worthy and competing priorities across the University for those types of BIG donations.