[JJJ]

1. The inescapable bottom line for Stanford football is that we are deep into the spiral of a catastrophic system-wide failure that requires fundamentally changing the way we operate.

Brilliant analysis, Matt. Your opening sentence is perfect.

I've been far away from the university for many years. In my experience, when people speak of Stanford, they do so with reverence for its ability to have excelled in academics and athletics. Many are gobsmacked that the university has been so strong in both domains for so long. But their attention often turns to football and they ask "What happened?"

Many people loved Intellectual Brutality, even if their hearts were dedicated to a different team. They loved seeing a small university physically overpower much larger opponents.

For Stanford to ignore how important athletics are to its reputation is institutional malpractice. Worse, allowing the years-long decline in football and men's basketball is symptomatic of a rot in the core of the university's leadership. I see the rot in how students are treated, how dissenting faculty are treated, in the explosion of the bureaucracy, in the tolerance of research malfeasance and conflicts of interest.

My son attends a D1 school in Texas with ~25,000 students. When my wife and I attend football and baseball games, we regularly see the president of the university leading cheers, mixing and taking photographs with students, and sitting in the stands with everyone else. He has high energy, enthusiasm, charm, and charisma. He's fun! He seems genuinely to love the university and his job. I wonder if Stanford's president or provost are similarly involved with student activities. I hope they at least go to the games, but do they? Is there a Fred Hargadon around, driving his convertible, classic Mustang into the tailgate areas, or memorizing the names of freshmen?

Whatever we choose to do, we need to do it well. You well illustrated how miserably we are failing in football. I could well believe that we are failing in other, less-visible enterprises as well. Somehow I doubt that football is the exception.

I am hopeful that new president Jon Levin (Class of ‘94) will be *that* guy that “gets” Stanford and will be a visible and frequent presence as cheerleader. No guarantees that this will be so, but he sounded good and we certainly need it!

[JJJ]

1. The inescapable bottom line for Stanford football is that we are deep into the spiral of a catastrophic system-wide failure that requires fundamentally changing the way we operate.

Brilliant analysis, Matt. Your opening sentence is perfect.

I've been far away from the university for many years. In my experience, when people speak of Stanford, they do so with reverence for its ability to have excelled in academics and athletics. Many are gobsmacked that the university has been so strong in both domains for so long. But their attention often turns to football and they ask "What happened?"

Many people loved Intellectual Brutality, even if their hearts were dedicated to a different team. They loved seeing a small university physically overpower much larger opponents.

For Stanford to ignore how important athletics are to its reputation is institutional malpractice. Worse, allowing the years-long decline in football and men's basketball is symptomatic of a rot in the core of the university's leadership. I see the rot in how students are treated, how dissenting faculty are treated, in the explosion of the bureaucracy, in the tolerance of research malfeasance and conflicts of interest.

My son attends a D1 school in Texas with ~25,000 students. When my wife and I attend football and baseball games, we regularly see the president of the university leading cheers, mixing and taking photographs with students, and sitting in the stands with everyone else. He has high energy, enthusiasm, charm, and charisma. He's fun! He seems genuinely to love the university and his job. I wonder if Stanford's president or provost are similarly involved with student activities. I hope they at least go to the games, but do they? Is there a Fred Hargadon around, driving his convertible, classic Mustang into the tailgate areas, or memorizing the names of freshmen?

Whatever we choose to do, we need to do it well. You well illustrated how miserably we are failing in football. I could well believe that we are failing in other, less-visible enterprises as well. Somehow I doubt that football is the exception.

I am hopeful that new president Jon Levin (Class of ‘94) will be *that* guy that “gets” Stanford and will be a visible and frequent presence as cheerleader. No guarantees that this will be so, but he sounded good and we certainly need it!