Growth and Progress
12/14/2018 7:30:00 AM | General, Fire Up Chats
CMU Athletics welcomes Jim McElwain and Jeremy Groves.
One of the lessons I learned early on in this business is that seemingly the only constant is change.
In the course of the past month I've announced leadership changes in both our soccer and football programs. These kinds of decisions are among the hardest an athletic director makes because of the real-life impact on so many people.
Ultimately the decisions were driven by an evaluation of our core values and our priorities as a department. Chief among those priorities at Central Michigan University is, and will always be, comprehensive student success. It is the responsibility of our athletics leadership to position our student-athletes for success in all areas of their college experience.
As you have undoubtedly heard, we welcomed two men and their families to the Chippewa Athletics Family this past week in Jim McElwain and Jeremy Groves. I hired them not only because they bring track records of leading winning programs on the field, but also because of their histories of developing and graduating future leaders.
Recruiting and hiring the caliber of coach that we just brought in is not easy for most of our peer institutions. What helps set CMU apart is the extraordinary investment in our program that you all continue to make. As we move into the midway point of our fiscal year, our fundraising numbers are already outpacing last year's record-breaking year.
One of the key drivers of this philanthropic support is the Chippewa Champions Alumni Center project. Thanks to you, we recently surpassed the highest amount ever privately committed to an athletics facility project.
We plan to break ground on the facility this coming spring with the demolition of our current locker room and the installation of a brand new video board in the south end zone.
The Champions Center project will be a game-changer for our university in so many ways, but one of its key goals is to upgrade the game-day experience in Kelly/Shorts. With the addition of the new video board for the 2019 season, we are already making headway on that critical aspect of the project.
With all of the external successes we've enjoyed recently, it is important not to lose sight of the fantastic start that our men's and women's basketball programs have gotten off to.
Team 51's follow-up act to a sweet sixteen berth has included a convincing road win over an ACC opponent in Virginia and a top five ranking in the College Insider Mid-Major poll.
The men boast an 8-2 record after a triple overtime win in Youngstown, Ohio, and a home victory on Saturday against Southern Utah.
Both these programs not only feature an exciting brand of basketball, but also some of our finest student-athletes and I encourage you to come out and support them in McGuirk Arena this winter. Buying a ticket to watch our student-athletes compete is one of the most valuable things you can do to support our programs.
While these past few weeks have been filled with activity and some big wins for CMU Athletics, I am looking forward to shutting the engines down for a little while and spending time with the most important people in my life—my wife Laura and my daughters Audrey, Ashley and Anna Leigh. I sincerely hope you'll do the same.
Here's wishing you and yours a Happy Holidays.
Fire up Chips!
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In the course of the past month I've announced leadership changes in both our soccer and football programs. These kinds of decisions are among the hardest an athletic director makes because of the real-life impact on so many people.
| Fire Up Chat Archive |
|---|
| • Feb. 7, 2019: Student-Athlete Success Leads the Way • Dec. 13, 2018: Growth and Progress • Oct. 23, 2018: A Game-Changer • Sept. 10, 2018: Starting Another Exciting Year for CMU Athletics • Aug. 1, 2018: Generous CMU fans show student-athlete support • May 23, 2018: Commitment in classroom leads to lifelong success • April 16, 2018: Spring success continues trend of exceeding expectations • March 13, 2018: Champions! Special group of student-athletes launches March • Feb. 19, 2018: Building up CMU through facilities, new diversity program • Jan. 15, 2018: Second semester starts with victories, good news • Dec. 11, 2017: Champions Alumni Center end-zone project taking shape • Nov. 6, 2017: Your invitation to join our "all-in" mentality • Oct. 10, 2017: Together, we help CMU student-athletes reach their potential • Sept. 8, 2017: Matching your passion for CMU as we transition to be the best |
Ultimately the decisions were driven by an evaluation of our core values and our priorities as a department. Chief among those priorities at Central Michigan University is, and will always be, comprehensive student success. It is the responsibility of our athletics leadership to position our student-athletes for success in all areas of their college experience.
As you have undoubtedly heard, we welcomed two men and their families to the Chippewa Athletics Family this past week in Jim McElwain and Jeremy Groves. I hired them not only because they bring track records of leading winning programs on the field, but also because of their histories of developing and graduating future leaders.
Recruiting and hiring the caliber of coach that we just brought in is not easy for most of our peer institutions. What helps set CMU apart is the extraordinary investment in our program that you all continue to make. As we move into the midway point of our fiscal year, our fundraising numbers are already outpacing last year's record-breaking year.
One of the key drivers of this philanthropic support is the Chippewa Champions Alumni Center project. Thanks to you, we recently surpassed the highest amount ever privately committed to an athletics facility project.
We plan to break ground on the facility this coming spring with the demolition of our current locker room and the installation of a brand new video board in the south end zone.
The Champions Center project will be a game-changer for our university in so many ways, but one of its key goals is to upgrade the game-day experience in Kelly/Shorts. With the addition of the new video board for the 2019 season, we are already making headway on that critical aspect of the project.
With all of the external successes we've enjoyed recently, it is important not to lose sight of the fantastic start that our men's and women's basketball programs have gotten off to.
Team 51's follow-up act to a sweet sixteen berth has included a convincing road win over an ACC opponent in Virginia and a top five ranking in the College Insider Mid-Major poll.
The men boast an 8-2 record after a triple overtime win in Youngstown, Ohio, and a home victory on Saturday against Southern Utah.
Both these programs not only feature an exciting brand of basketball, but also some of our finest student-athletes and I encourage you to come out and support them in McGuirk Arena this winter. Buying a ticket to watch our student-athletes compete is one of the most valuable things you can do to support our programs.
While these past few weeks have been filled with activity and some big wins for CMU Athletics, I am looking forward to shutting the engines down for a little while and spending time with the most important people in my life—my wife Laura and my daughters Audrey, Ashley and Anna Leigh. I sincerely hope you'll do the same.
Here's wishing you and yours a Happy Holidays.
Fire up Chips!
Â
CMU Athletics Connection - Fundraising
Monday, September 15
Chippewa Check-In
Friday, September 12
CMU Athletics Meet & Greet
Wednesday, June 11
CMU Athletics Connection with Amy Folan
Thursday, May 22