DFWCards

Louisville Athletic Revenues Rank 16th in NCAA, Exceed Those of UK

Talk about eye-opening. 

This is an excerpt from a much larger article that is definitely worth a read. It includes a 10-minute video interview with UofL Athletic Director Tom Jurich, the architect of much of this success.

From last Sunday's Louisville Courier-Journal:

When the U.S. Department of Education released its annual revenue and expense figures for college sports last month, the University of Louisville’s totals lit up the scoreboard.

For the fiscal year that ended in June, U of L reported $87.74 million in athletic revenue, ranking 16th in NCAA Division I, the organization's classification for its largest schools. And for the first time in this government index, which was created to monitor gender equity statistics among schools, U of L’s revenue exceeded that of the University of Kentucky.

More surprising, perhaps, was that U of L’s $40.89 million in reported men’s basketball revenue was nearly $12 million more than the next-closest competitor, Duke, and surpassed the revenues of all but 19 major football programs.

The numbers, which got a minor boost from one-time donations related to the new KFC YUM! Center and Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium expansion, are testimony to the earning potential of new facilities and luxury suites, and clearly put the program into a new financial neighborhood.

In fact, U of L is one of only two programs in the top 20 in revenue that are not a part of the Southeastern, Big 12, Pac-12, Big Ten or Atlantic Coast conferences. The other is Notre Dame, which is independent in football.

 

Cardinal Great Lenny Lyles Has Died

Last summer, University of Louisville football coach Charlie Strong brought some former U of L players to Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. One alumnus, Lenny Lyles, was surprised to see his image on a mural. Strong told Lyles that he deserved to be there for “what he’s done for this program.”

Lyles, the former U of L football and track star, died on Sunday at the age of 75.

On Monday, many who knew him recalled him as a leader, a mentor, a role model and an influential figure in Louisville athletics. Strong described Lyles as “an unbelievable person.” A statue of Lyles stands in Cardinal Park.

Lyles, a Central High School graduate, paved the way for integration by being one of the first African-Americans to play for U of L (1954-57). Known as “The Fastest Man in Football,” he rushed for a school-record 43 touchdowns and scored 50 overall. He remains the program’s all-time scoring leader for a non-kicker with 300 points.

Lyles, a four-year starter, became the first U of L player to surpass 1,000 yards rushing in a season and left as the program's all-time rushing leader (2,786 yards). He is currently third behind Walter Peacock (3,204) and Nathan Poole (2,903).

via www.courier-journal.com

UofL Receives National Coverage For Stem Cell Research

This note was delivered recently to all University of Louisville alumni, from the desk of President Jim Ramsey:

Dear Friends of UofL,

This Thanksgiving we have a lot to be thankful for at the University of Louisville. A successful capital campaign, a wonderful student base and incredible researchers like Dr. Roberto Bolli who received tremendous national attention for the university this week. His adult stem cell research on improving heart function produced striking results.  Take a few minutes and see the national coverage.

I hope you have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving.

Jim

Charting Our Course - UofL President Ramsey Visits Dallas

On Friday August 26, 2011, the University of Louisville Alumni Association and the UofL Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex Alumni Club hosted University President James R. Ramsey at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in downtown Dallas.

The primary purpose of Dr. Ramsey's appearance at this alumni reception was to provide an update on the University's Charting Our Course Capital Campaign, through which UofL is attempting to raise $1 Billion in private money by 2013 in order to become a premier metropolitan research university (donate here).

Also in attendance was Cardinals basketball great Darrell Griffith, who now serves the University as a Special Assistant to the President.

The UofL DFW Alumni Club wishes to thank Dr. Ramsey, Assistant VP for Alumni Relations Jimmy Ford, Associate Alumni Director - External Relations Jonathan Israel, and all the other UofL staffers who made the trip to Dallas for the event, which was captured in part in this photo album.

A colorful approach to marketing UofL in Big Blue country

The University of Louisville is taking a unique approach to increasing its brand awareness outside the Louisville metropolitan area, from which come the majority of the school’s student body.

Like many recent marketing campaigns, this one focuses on some of UofL’s strengths, including high ACT scores, national rankings and cutting-edge research.

What’s different is the color scheme which infuses the advertisements. Rather than exclusively using the university colors of red, white and black, the messages are delivered in front of a royal blue background, the color often associated with the Commonwealth and with UofL’s chief athletic rival, the University of Kentucky.

“The campaign is designed to spill red into the traditional UK and Commonwealth blue, reminding audiences that there is more than one university in Kentucky," said Mary Griffith, senior associate vice president for communications and marketing. ”It’s an incursion campaign coming right at the time UK and UofL play out their traditional sports rivalry (the football teams play their annual grudge match in Lexington on September 19).”

Target audiences are central Kentucky alumni, current students and potential recruits, and influencers. A smaller print campaign directed at veterans and their education needs is running in Elizabethtown and Fort Knox newspapers.

Papa John's Cardinal Stadium’s new look takes shape

As the 2009 football season begins for the Louisville Cardinals, I thought those of you familiar with the university who don’t get back to the campus very often might enjoy some recent photos of the Papa John's Cardinal Stadium stadium expansion, which remains on target for completion in 2010.

These photos were taken by Aerial Innovations of Tennessee, Inc. For a full and updated gallery of images, please visit the UofL Sports web site.

Louisville campuses to go smoke free in November

University of Louisville provost Shirley Willihnganz announced on Friday that the school’s Belknap Campus and all UofL-owned or controlled properties on Shelby Campus will become smoke free on November 19, the date of the annual Great American Smokeout.

The UofL Health Sciences Center has been smoke free since January 2008.

There will be a grace period between November 19 and June 1 on Belknap and Shelby campuses. Smokers will be allowed to smoke in designated areas until June 1.

Enforcement of the smoke-free policy at the Health Sciences Center campus will take effect November 19 because employees on that campus have had plenty of notice.

With this policy change, UofL becomes part of an accelerating trend across the United States. As of August 2009, over 170 colleges and universities had instituted tobacco-free campus policies, up from around 140 a year earlier.

The American Cancer Society maintains a Smoke Free Campus Initiative to help colleges and universities initiate such programs.

Bardstown legislator contributes to RestoreUofL

From the University of Louisville news web site:

Kentucky Rep. David Floyd [Tuesday] presented University of Louisville President James Ramsey with a check for $1,000 to support RestoreUofL, a fund-raising campaign to help UofL recover from the August 4 flood.

Floyd, a Republican lawmaker who represents the state’s 50th District, which includes Bardstown, Kentucky, said he was “moved to help” the university after seeing video of extensive flooding there.

“In Bardstown, we didn’t get a drop of rain from the storm that flooded parts of Louisville and devastated the UofL campus,” he said. “When I read the reports (about UofL) I understood the need was genuine … so I wrote out a check for $1,000 and wanted to challenge others to do the same.”

UofL President Ramsey and University Provost Shirley Willihnganz each are matching Floyd’s contribution with $1,000 gifts of their own.

The money will go toward such things as planting new trees and redoing landscaping or into a fund to help UofL employees who lost cars and other personal items.

UofL suffered an estimated $15 million in damage from the flood, which university officials have called the worst natural disaster in the school’s history. Thirty people had to be rescued from rising water and 90 buildings were affected.

UofL’s fall semester begins as freshmen move into the dorms

Excerpted from the UofL web site:

Despite fickle weather on August 20, UofL students — mostly freshmen — arrived on campus and began moving into residence halls.

Between downpours, students, their families and volunteers hauled books, computers, TVs, bedding and more to residence hall rooms across the University of Louisville’s Belknap Campus.

The move-in of new and returning students kicked off both Welcome Weekend (photo set) and the new school year. After students settle into their dorm rooms, they’ll participate in a slew of activities that include a convocation with President James Ramsey, open houses and service activities.

Ramsey didn’t need to go for his daily jog Thursday. He carried a microwave up three flights of stairs in Miller Hall as he helped a freshman from Lexington move into his room.

The president helped carry boxes and greeted new students and their parents.

As freshman Danny Durbin was moving into Unitas Tower, his mother talked about how it felt to leave her son on campus and return home.

“It’s exciting but sad,” she said. “Although it’s close to home, he’s still gone.”

Getting student residence halls ready for students this year was particularly challenging because of the August 4 flash flood, said Shannon Staten, director of housing and residence life. Damage to UofL from the flood is estimated at $15 million and three student residence halls — Unitas Tower, Miller Hall and Threlkeld Hall — required cleaning and repairs. They re-opened August 14 and 15.

“We not only had the clean-up itself, but also had to make sure the areas were sanitized,” Staten said. “The University put the residence halls on the top priority list and worked tirelessly until we knew we could occupy them.”

To read the entire article, please see http://php.louisville.edu/news/news.php?news=1512.

School asks alumni to help Restore UofL

The University of Louisville is reaching out to its alumni via e-mail and the web as it attempts to recover from an unprecedented series of body blows inflicted upon it by Mother Nature.

In the last twelve months, the university has been hit by three major disasters – a wind storm, an ice storm and the recent flash flood, which collectively resulted in millions of dollars in damage to UofL’s campuses.

As described on a new web site and communicated via an e-mail message delivered on Tuesday, insurance and state and federal aid will not cover the cost of all the damage. UofL must pay for the rest, and after nine consecutive years of Kentucky state budget cuts, there is not a lot of  money available for repairs and restoration.

So UofL is asking for financial donations “to help restore our campus to its prior beauty, to help address some of the challenges insurance doesn’t cover, and to give our students the environment they need to make the most of their educational experience.”

Contributors have a choice of donating to the Restore UofL Fund, which seeks to address the goals listed above, or to the Employee Assistance Campaign, which will help UofL employees who suffered financial loss due to the on-campus disasters.

If you’re an alumnus or friend of the University of Louisville and would like to donate, please visit the Restore UofL web site for additional information and instructions on giving.