Our first football game will be against Texas Lutheran on September 7. I'm hoping to make it to Georgetown and wear my "Undefeated Since 1950" t-shirt.
I believe that I met Mr. Seeber at an alumni association meeting in Dallas once, but I wasn't aware of his wealth at the time. He was on the baseball team during the 60s.
I believe that there is a split among TPTB at Southwestern. The current president (a late 60s alum) who is retiring received a vote of no confidence by the faculty a couple of years ago, but the board of trustees still stayed in support. Their fundraising efforts weren't as successful as the prior administration. Under the president that was there in the 80s and 90s they had a five-year challenge to raise $75 million and they exceeded the goal by raising $91 million. With the current president another five-year challenge to raise $125 million and they fell short of that goal. There are some alums that are very wealthy (e.g. Red McCombs) and several families from the Houston area (the Cullens and the Browns of Brown & Root).
The top priority is to raise $25 million to upgrade the science building since they have a lot of graduates that attend med school. They are also looking at awarding masters degrees in translational medicine in conjunction with the Methodist Hospital system in Houston which would be the first time they awarded masters degrees in about 6 or 7 decades. When the science building was constructed in the 50s, the lady that funded it was displeased with how the building appeared (a 4-story limestone barn with a one story auditorium that jutted out towards the highway) and never donated money again. They did expand the building in the 90s and it improved the aesthetics.
While it is Seeber's money, it does seem tacky to renege on the pledge and I imagine that he has damaged his standing among the remainder of the alumni base. The football program is supposed to be for the students and also achieve gender balance at the university since it 62% women and 38% men. The side benefits are that it would also be a draw for Homecoming and provide larger exposure as they market themselves as a "national" liberal arts university. If Seeber is disappointed in the new choice then he should vocalize it to the board of trustees and withhold future donations--instead he has left the university in a lurch as they scramble to fund the program.
The new president is a professor in mathematics who has produced instructional videos that have received national acclaim and he is relatively young. One of the other top three contenders for the job withdrew near the end of the process so the board of trustees only had two applicants to choose. I have two contacts that are well connected regarding university politics so it will be interesting to get their take on the situation.
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