Consider Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano's sweet deal. He gets $250,000 under the table on top of the annual salary that already makes him the highest-paid state employee. When asked about Schiano's secret bonus, President Richard L. McCormick said, "You've got to pay to play." Indeed we do. The coach raked in an $800,000 interest-free loan to buy a home on Rutgers' old nature preserve. It's a good thing too, because he needs a place to park the SUV that Rutgers bought him. And don't be surprised when the auditors discover the helipad and landing strip Rutgers gifted him: He has free unlimited use of a jet and helicopter.
But the perks don't only go to Schiano. Rutgers disregarded its own travel expense policy and subsidized the boosters' trips to bowl games. The University spent $11,000 on in-room movies, valet parking, room service and phone charges at the Texas Bowl.
Then there's the stadium financing. The $30 million that Rutgers is raising to fund the expansion is nonexistent. (If it doesn't materialize soon, it will appear next year in the form of even higher tuition and fees.) The Star-Ledger reported that the University has not even come close to raising $10 million, and construction is so far behind that as of Aug. 19, we still have not received the plans for the fire alarm system.
What about RU athletes not on the football team? Although the University promised it would save money by cutting six Olympic sports, George Zoffinger, the most sensible and intelligent member of the Board of Governors, stated that, "[The Rutgers administration is] just not telling you the truth. They can't say they saved the money. They haven't saved the money. The [athletic] budget has gone up from $49 million to $52 million."
What does all this spending buy Rutgers? The New York Times reports, "The University of Michigan, which averages more than 110,000 fans for home football games, lost an estimated $7 million on athletics over the course of two seasons, between 1998 and 2000." So Rutgers, a team lacking the Wolverines' tradition and fan base, definitely isn't making a profit. Is it recruiting better students? Applications are up (correlation does not prove causation) but an NCAA study found no relationship between athletics spending and student quality.
In other words, big time athletics has bought Rutgers a whole lot of nothing. But the real shame is that the money wasted could have been used to improve Rutgers' infrastructure or boost its miniscule academic budget. Rutgers has half a billion dollars in deferred maintenance. Staff members are being laid off. Eight hundred course sections were cut. It seems everywhere you look Rutgers is hemorrhaging cash. But we always seem to have enough money for the football program.
There are still plenty of alumni, students and faculty who know Rutgers is much more than a football team. Let's hope they speak up until a chorus of voices brings the university back to its roots as an academic institution.
Josh Ontell is a Rutgers College Class of 2008 alumnus. He was also the class president.
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