re: SIAP: Paul Bryant Jr's Bank Tie That Binds UA BOT

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Fair point. I worked at UAB, my wife was a professor there, my father received his masters from UAB. I spent six months going to the UAB burn clinic as they were able to save the fingers on my hand, while the first hospital had wanted to amputate them. I taught in Birmingham for more than a decade and can say, UAB was the biggest asset/supporter to the kids in need at my school, from sponsoring robotics, providing volunteer athletic coaches, offering scholarships to kids who passed three or more AP exams and providing student volunteers to help on a wide range of issues. I will always support UAB for these reasons no matter where I live.

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Understandable that you'd feel close to the situation.

But I can't see where the great things UAB has been able to offer the B'ham area, the kids, financial support or the volunteer student support will cease to exist in the future due to decisions made by the UA BOT.

I'd like to know what the UA BOT has done to hamper, or prevent UAB from continuing to help the community, offer assistance to kids in need? Has the UA BOT or Paul Bryant, Jr somehow stymied an initiative or proposal for UAB to continue to be good Samaritans in the B'ham area?

IF the UA BOT acted in such a way and blocked UAB from actually helping the community and the people of B'ham then I most certainly have problem with that.

But if this is all about a football program and it's demise then I don't think I could care less.

You do realize a major reason for deciding to shut the program down was because there was no commitment from the fans, boosters, private donors, community, etc... to help fund the program... right?

Every effort to push private donations has failed miserably, and even cost the University at times because they were stuck with the bill when private donors made promises and backed out.

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But I can't see where the great things UAB has been able to offer the B'ham area, the kids, financial support or the volunteer student support will cease to exist in the future due to decisions made by the UA BOT.

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At this moment, it is really about the President of UAB, only the BoT can get rid of him and he is hurting UAB. Even his admirers would admit he cannot effectively administrate or raise funds going forward. He has lost the trust of the stakeholders, and could not even attend the last graduation or the c-usa games because he would be "disruptive". Again only the BoT can get him to step down, no one else.

And the President tried to kill the honor's program and cut faculty benefits, these non-football issues will adversely impact the University and the students who attend( many of whom graduated from Bhm city schools)

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But if this is all about a football program and it's demise then I don't think I could care less.

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That is the thing. It is not really about the football program, that was a catalyst. The faculty did not vote no confidence due to the athletic issue, they were concerned about the future of UAB under this administration.

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The fans weren't running the program. That would be the administration/board who were in charge of all the hires and investments. So no, there is no one to blame except for the people running it. The fans don't run the business. The fans don't have to come up with a way to make it profitable. The fans don't come up with ways to get people to show up to games. You haven't addressed any of the reasons I gave for low fan support either. You just keep blaming fans because you have no argument for it. You just deflect.

I will say that fan support at UAB was low for about 9-10 years. But at the same time, there are many reasons for that. You can't simply place blame on fans for not supporting one of the worst products in the country. The fact that the UA BOT can get Alabama to #1 and UAB to #128 simultaneously tells you all you need to know.

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I haven't deflected anything. All of your excuses for lack of fan support is where the deflection comes in at.

If UAB football was so important to everyone, then they should have been at the games. They weren't.

IF UAB football was so important, private donors should have been willing to help cover the cost of maintaining or building new facilities. They didn't. As a matter of fact, those efforts failed miserably due to lack of support.

So there's that.

Again, it's nobody's fault but your own.

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WELLLLLL WE LOVE UAB FOOTBALLL!!


YOU CAN'T TAKE IT AWAY FROM US!!!

Oh, really? How many games have you attended in the last 10 years?

WELLLL I MEAN... I WOULD HAVE BUT... WELL

IT'S THE BOARD'S FAULT!!!!!

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This is literally every conversation with a UAB "fan". Last November UAB had a game on a gorgeous Saturday morning when Bama and AU played that night just weeks after it leaked the program might be ending and I swear there were more people in the stands for a high school game the night before at Ladd. Pitiful.

Do you even read the news? You don't even support anything you say with facts. Donations/facilities:

LINK

LINK

LINK

Here's a couple I googled for you quickly.

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Fair point. I worked at UAB, my wife was a professor there, my father received his masters from UAB. I spent six months going to the UAB burn clinic as they were able to save the fingers on my hand, while the first hospital had wanted to amputate them. I taught in Birmingham for more than a decade and can say, UAB was the biggest asset/supporter to the kids in need at my school, from sponsoring robotics, providing volunteer athletic coaches, offering scholarships to kids who passed three or more AP exams and providing student volunteers to help on a wide range of issues.

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This is great, and proves that UAB is a great university. And they will continue to be even without a football program. They will have more money for these scholarships for students to become doctors and nurses without football eating up the profits.

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This is great, and proves that UAB is a great university. And they will continue to be even without a football program

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I hope you are right, but an ineffective administration can do tremendous damage to a University.

WHEREAS, During President Watt’s
22 month tenure, he has failed to apply principles of shared governance, including decisions related to: 1.Selection of University administrative officers.
2.Disbanding of athletic programs.
3.Changes in academic operations.
4.Changes in faculty benefits.

This was the no confidence resolution before it was revealed that Watts had lied to his stakeholders, do you think he can effectively govern going forward?

Deflection. Insults. Doesn't look at facts.

Check. Check. Check.

edit: and I'm out :)