Stephen Ross donates another $200 Million
Report: Ross to give $200 million in largest-ever donation to University
The article gives the details and apparently there is a press conf today (Wednesday). Impressive. Some of the donation will go to athletics.
September 4th, 2013 at 11:10 AM ^
"I prefer the way it used to be. Let it be about the kids (or about Michigan) and not the donor. "
I think this is a longing for a time that never existed. Ferry Field (Michigan's home football field from 1906 to 1926) was named after Detroit businessman Dexter Ferry, not because he was a great guy, but because he purchased the land for the field and gave it to the University.
Mott--something you mention in your post--isn't named after Charles Stewart Mott for any reason other than the amount of money his foundation gave to the University.
September 4th, 2013 at 12:47 PM ^
September 4th, 2013 at 5:44 PM ^
Just an FYI, I wasn't holding up Mott as "the way it used to be." I used it as an example so you understood how big the presence of Children's is in Chicago, if you didn't already know. And this wasn't a personal slam on Stephen Ross. It's more a comment on philanthropy as a whole, and how I wish it was 100% altruistic. I appreciate the gift, and any effort to give back in any way.
September 4th, 2013 at 12:03 PM ^
Realistically, the alternative is corporate sponsorship. I'd much rather honor the Michigan Men (and Women) who donate their hard-earned money to have their names on the building rather than a corporate entity with a loose connection to the University. Stephen Ross is an alum who has been hugely successful and generous -- how isn't that an ideal person to name something after? It's pretty much the way things have always worked, as others have pointed out.
September 4th, 2013 at 1:51 PM ^
Can't we pick on someone other than the Luries? LOL
FWIW, some proportion of donors do not name things after themselves but rather after family members they wish to honor/memorialize. So while there may be still some vanity attached to it, it might be less self-aggrandizing than we first assume.
September 4th, 2013 at 9:40 AM ^
Anyone else hope that (part of) this goes to some upper-deck type cheap seats at Michigan stadium?
September 4th, 2013 at 10:24 AM ^
I don't think the demand is there for more cheap seats in the stadium--notice that there is no longer a waiting list for season tickets. It's a nice fantasy to think of crowds of 125,000+, but I don't see them being able to sell that many tickets to watch Michigan play Eastern Michigan or Rutgers or whomever. It really does appear that they are close to the edge right now in terms of ticket sales--any expansion could mean that there will be a few games each year that are not sold out, with big ugly blocks of empty seats in the new sections.
If anything, expect the next round of renovations in Michigan Stadium to be to add more "exclusive" type seating areas, possibly extending the current boxes all of the way around the stadium.
September 4th, 2013 at 10:33 AM ^
September 4th, 2013 at 10:14 AM ^
September 4th, 2013 at 10:25 AM ^
September 4th, 2013 at 10:38 AM ^
They are about to build both an indoor and an outdoor track in the new athletic facilities south of the golf course. The money is there, and I'm not sure if the plans are approved, but there are a lot of parts of the planned renovation that depend on the new indoor track and outdoor track facilities.
The information I have heard is that the indoor track building will be torn down to build a new volleyball arena, and the outdoor track will be incorporated into an expanded parking lot.
September 4th, 2013 at 11:20 AM ^
Well...I can think of one.
Fortunately this gift probably green lights most, if not all, of the remaining facility projects.
September 4th, 2013 at 1:52 PM ^
The crew team would like a word with you.
September 4th, 2013 at 10:45 AM ^
September 4th, 2013 at 11:45 AM ^
No, no, no. It'll be something like MGoShoe suggested on Twitter: "Michigan Stadium Presented by Stephen Ross"
September 4th, 2013 at 11:39 AM ^
Awesome news. Wish I could have gotten some of that B-School scholarship money a couple years ago! Stephen Ross has done incredible things for the University over the years, and we are lucky to have such an awesome alumnus.
September 4th, 2013 at 11:40 AM ^
Now, a multitude of expansion projects can be paid for cash-up-front, and existing debt can be paid down quickly. No more need for that pesky progressive ticket pricing, or the perpetual inflation in ticket prices, as these have lost their raison d'être. Right? Guys? Amirite?
September 4th, 2013 at 12:56 PM ^
September 4th, 2013 at 2:36 PM ^
Donations can pay for anything unless the donor requests the money be spent on specific things. Other than that, the AD determines how to use the money they get. Ticket sales and revenue can pay for anything and everything. My understanding, at least.
That said -- there is no way in hell prices are ever going down. That was the joke.
September 4th, 2013 at 12:16 PM ^
is more than the entire endowments of some very good small colleges.
September 4th, 2013 at 12:20 PM ^
to buy out the final year of the ND/UM contract. I'd hand the envelope to Brian Kelly and their AD right about the time the get their sorry asses on the loser bus back to South Bend.
September 4th, 2013 at 12:39 PM ^
...to the conversation. What will the $100M be used for?
Priorities according to Brandon: getting M/W LAX facilities, improving M/W track, academic center needs growth.
— Chantel Jennings (@ChantelJennings) September 4, 2013
UM AD Brandon estimates $350 million to upgrade athletic facilities. Ross' $100 million gift is a huge down payment Brandon said
— angelique (@chengelis) September 4, 2013
Brandon hopes all 16 facility projects will be done in 'much faster than 10 years.'
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) September 4, 2013
Brandon says Schembechler Hall renovation will be done by spring w dedication planned at spring game
— angelique (@chengelis) September 4, 2013
It always amazes me the length people will go to complain about everyting. The same people who constantly bitch and moan about every effort by 1000SSS to increase its revenue through ticket sales, advertisements, licensing, etc (and don't get me wrong, I disagree with many of the tactical decisions they've made) turn around and complain when a wealthy philanthropist has the gall to make the single largest donation in the history of the University of Michigan and do what every other major donor to colleges and universities have done since colleges and universities started soliciting such gifts -- accept the university's offer to name something after him or her.
Donor dollars (large and small) are the reason why the Athletics Department can even consider not selling stadium naming rights and plastering ads all over the interior of Michigan Stadium. If you start with the premise that you want Michigan athletics and Michigan footbal in particular to be elite, large entries on the right side of the ledger must be made. They will come from a variety of sources, but the donor base is especially important.
And the Athletics Department budget is not a zero sum game. That is, when outlays are made for non-revenue sports and "Stephen M. Ross Athletics Campus" general use facilities, the football program benefits because it promotes a culture of championships. That is, having teams and individual athletes that win B1G and NCAA championships and having the facilities to host B1G and NCAA championship events. The prestige endowed by such a culture indirectly benefits the revenue sports. Not because every elite prospective football or basketball S-A will be drawn to Michigan because of it, but because the type of S-A that Brady Hoke, John Beilein, and Red Berenson want to recruit (remember “The Profile TM”) will be.
September 4th, 2013 at 1:29 PM ^
Between Stephen Ross, Charles Munger ($110M), the Zells ($50M), and the Frankels ($25M), UM has received $385M in donations in 2013 alone. WOW! Harvard, on the other hand, has received $195M from their top 4 donors.
September 4th, 2013 at 1:37 PM ^
...on the gift and how it will be employed.
September 4th, 2013 at 3:32 PM ^