November 2, 2005

Navy comping all charges for Tulane

Great article out of the Baltimore Sun highlighting the good natured gesture towards Tulane for this weekend's Navy football game.

Navy will pick up virtually all the expenses for Tulane's trip, including airfare, hotel rooms, meals and ground transportation after having forwarded the visiting team's guarantee (about $125,000) in advance.

"We're just doing everything we can to support them," said academy athletic director Chet Gladchuk. "Except for the game, we're trying to make this trip enjoyable for them. It's terrible what they're going through, and certainly we can relate to their situation."

...

Tulane students will be admitted to the game free with appropriate identification and the players will be receiving a "goody bag" full of food and beverage items and amenities such as toiletries.

Gladchuk, who headed Tulane's athletic program from 1987 through 1990, said his Tulane counterpart, Rick Dickson, has endured "the toughest job in the country the last few years."

Two years ago, Dickson had to withstand an administrative movement to end football, and now he is trying to supervise a situation in which the school's athletic teams are spread over four campuses, with the football team headquartered at Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La.

"When I talked to him, he asked if he could come to our dinner Friday night casual because he didn't have a tie," Gladchuk said. "He hasn't been able to hold a staff meeting in months, they're so disjointed."

...

"They are really strapped for resources," said Gladchuk of Tulane. "Their medical center, which the institution relies on for financial support, closed down, and there is no cash flow. They're really worried about losing everything, facilities, staff, students. We feel compelled to do what we can to help."

In addition to the facilities that have been donated by the four universities that are housing the Tulane athletes, the university is continuing to receive some cash donations so that it doesn't go bankrupt.

Dickson said Navy's generosity "is not unusual, but it is exceptional. We've had some pretty remarkable things happen. Southern Miss returned our guarantee to us even though it was our home game in Shreveport. But Chet and Navy went above and beyond."

Among the other checks received by Tulane were a $50,000 donation from the Orange Bowl and $40,000 from Mike Garrett, athletic director at Southern California.

"We're greatly indebted to these people," said Dickson. "A lot of kids lost everything, and it's important they have some thread of normalcy. But, so far nobody has handed us a victory."

Posted by Kevin Donahue