Q: Since you became Athletic Director, an old tradition seems to have been discarded, namely class seniority in assigning seats for Army/Navy.
Three years ago I had finally worked to the 48-yard line, 20 rows back, and the last two years I have been stuck on the goal line near the top of the stadium. Is this any way to treat loyal alumnus? - asked by: Howard R. Weiss '47 -
A: Howard, it is my understanding that we were still making every accommodation and have great sensitivity to class seniority in assigning seats. Matt Munnelly, who is our Ticket Manager, works very hard to try and accommodate all requests that come from our distinguished alumni. If you find that you're not satisfied with the way our Ticket Office is handling requests, please don't hesitate to contact me directly. I'd be glad to sit down with Matt and try to work out accommodations that would be appropriate and respectful of those that have been with this program for so many years.
- answered by: Chet Gladchuk
Q: Since you became Athletic Director, an old tradition seems to have been discarded, namely class seniority in assigning seats for Army/Navy.
Three years ago I had finally worked to the 48-yard line, 20 rows back, and the last two years I have been stuck on the goal line near the top of the stadium. Is this any way to treat loyal alumnus?
This is an important issue outside the East Coast where many of the Alumni cannot be season ticket holders and are most likely to travel back East only to an Army game, Homecoming or a ND game (usually an expensive proposition anyhow).
There are a lot of disgruntled alumni who have voiced this to me in my capacity as a member of the USNA Alumni Board in CO and as President of the Denver Navy League. I have addressed this issue both to the Alumni Association, the senior faculty administration, and members of the Alumni Board. A less disgruntled group may be more amenable to contributing fiscal resources (READ DOLLARS) to those in power both at Alumni House and NAAA.
P.S.: USAFA seems to favor seniority seating, even give USNA '62 the same respectful treatment they give USAFA '62. - asked by: Joseph G. Procopio, USNA '62 -
A: Thanks, Joe, for the note. I'm sorry that things haven't worked out with you in regard to seating. We work very hard to try to accommodate and address our loyal fans. I honestly have very few complaints with regard to the issue you mention. Keep in mind that it's not very difficult to be a member of the Blue & Gold Club in support of our 30 varsity sports, which provides the benefit of preferred seating for the Army/Navy games. Competing at the Division I level, paying coaches' salaries, buying equipment, sending teams to away contests, feeding, housing and recruiting all takes resources and support. The NAAA has to generate close to 90 percent of the budget to support these 30 programs through external sources of revenue. If we do not realize support from our alumni and friends through donations to the program, we can't survive; we can't field competitive teams, and nothing works. May I suggest that you simply become a member of that group that supports our program, which will immediately afford you priority in seating location. That coupled with your other association to the Academy will put you in a much better position at the stadium.
Finally, the difference between the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy is, as I mentioned, we are asked by the Academy to generate almost all the funding necessary to support this program. At Air Force, they still receive almost 50% of their budget directly from the government. The same holds true at West Point. If that were the case at Navy, we too would have the ability to be much less dependent on support from friends such as yourself.
- answered by: Chet Gladchuk
