OT: Big House Big Heart race cancelled

Submitted by JamesBondHerpesMeds on

Strange decision by the Athletic Department on this one, especially given how popular the race had been over the past few years.  Anyone with more specific information on this?

 

 

Dear Big House Big Heart Participant, 

 

 

We apologize ahead for a lengthy email. It is with sadness that we announce that University of Michigan Athletics has decided that Big House Big Heart no longer fits into its charitable mission and therefore the race cannot finish in the Big House. At a meeting on Nov. 30 with two representatives of the Brandon Administration, Chrissi Rawak, Senior Assistant Athletic Director for Development and Rob Rademacker, Assistant Athletic Director for Facilities and Operations, we were told, "our decision was based on a several month long evaluation of our charitable work and relationships and need to streamline and organize those efforts. Unfortunately, the run doesn't fit into those plans."

 

We made it clear how much the race means to each participant, volunteer, committee member and the many charities (over 175) which count of substantial fund-raising from BHBH. We offered to give UM Athletics the race if they would continue to allow it to finish in the stadium. CFC was not made aware of any charitable assessment process. While we were advised BHBH would again be Spring Football Game Weekend, and of the rental price of the stadium, we had been waiting for several weeks for the final "OK" so that we could open registration and begin promoting the race, as well as helping non-profits build their fund-raising teams.

CFC has been very appreciative of being able to finish the BHBH race in the stadium these last 6 years and have been diligent to leave the stadium in better shape than when we entered. We know the extraordinary race finish has always been dependent on UM Athletics allowing access to the stadium and that priorities do change with administration changes.

 

...

 

If you wish to contact CFC about BHBH, please email andrea@champsforcharity. If you have questions about the UM Athletic's decision, please contact them.

 

Sincerely,

 

Your Champions For Charity Crew

Wolverine Devotee

December 4th, 2012 at 2:37 PM ^

I don't understand what Dave Brandon has done to deserve all the crap he gets on here.

He only hired Brady Hoke & Co. who took a hot mess and turned them into a 11-2 Sugar Bowl champion, beating ohio his first year and having a great defense. He's already passed the last guy in wins at Michigan 1.5 years into his tenure here.

I can understand the uniforms as I didn't care that much for the Road Legacies but guess what? It's a sign of the times. Alternate uniforms are popular and get people excited. 

I admire DB for not beating around the bush and just flat out coming out and saying it's about the money (with home games). Also going inside the program with the 60 Minutes episode. 

Just look around the athletic campus and then take a look here of what it will eventually look like:

 

M-Wolverine

December 5th, 2012 at 8:57 AM ^

http://annarbor.com/news/big-house-big-heart-coordinator-baffled-by-why…

http://annarbor.com/news/university-of-michigan-says-annual-big-house-b…

Interesting part from the first, more updated one, following what runnergirl said above-

 

 

 

Registration for the Big Heart Big House run historically cost between $32 and $36 per runner, depending on registration date. Depending on the year, between $6 and $9 of each the registration fee went to charitable organizations and the remainder went toward administrative costs and event costs, such as T-shirts and snacks.

Now it's not a non-profit, but wow, that's an incredibly small percentage of money collected going directly to charity. A non-profit with that rate of administrative costs wouldn't get government endorsement.