Spartans 4 Sanity

Did you know....

• The argument that football pays for itself is misleading?  Click here for details.
  
• The argument that football pays for itself is false?  Click here for details.
  
• Leaving Division I-A would not mean leaving Division I?  Click here for details.
  
• SJSU spends significantly more general fund dollars on athletics than any other school in the CSU except Bakersfield?  Click here for details.
  
• Due to Division I-A football, the Division of Athletics was the only university division that did not have its general fund budget cut during 2003/04?  Click here for details.
  
• Fewer than 10% of all SJSU students attend an average football game, even though tickets are free to them?  Click here for details
  
• A massive effort to increase attendance during the 2002 football season was a complete failure?  Click here for details.
  
• Except for the Grambling State game, a massive effort to increase attendance during the 2003 season was another complete failure?  Click here for details.
  
• In calculating the attendance figures for SJSU football games, the Division of Athletics sometimes counts people who never set foot inside Spartan Stadium, and that this practice has been criticized by the San Jose Mercury News and others?  Click here for details
  
• In order to increase football attendance figures, the Division of Athletics is considering the prospect of shutting the student dorms' dining commons on game days in order to force students to travel to Spartan Stadium to eat?  Click here for details.
  
• Several other CSU universities have dropped Division I-A status and raise more money than SJSU does?  Click here for details.
  
• SJSU football players are asked to "volunteer" to participate in practice sessions once they have reached their NCAA-mandated 20-hour-per-week limit on "athletically related activities"?  Click here for details.
  
• The Division of Athletics has stated that it ran a deficit in AY 2002/03, and that this deficit is due primarily to the attempt to retain Division I-A status?  Click here for details.
  
• In Spring 2003, SJSU students twice rejected the idea of increasing their fees to save football?  Click here for details.
  
• Senior football coaches are paid more than their faculty counterparts, and the Division of Athletics seeks to significantly increase these salaries?  Click here for details.
  
• In order to preserve funds for the football program, the Division of Athletics has dropped other sports because they were too expensive, and is thinking about doing so again?  Click here for details
  
• The football team generates a significant amount of negative publicity about SJSU?  Click here for details
  
• Only 1 campus in the entire CSU system has a "successful" football program?  Click here for details
  
• Athletics at Santa Clara University and CSU Long Beach have flourished since the elimination of their football programs in the early 90s?  Click here for details.

Resources

1. White Paper Explaining Why SJSU Should Leave Division I-A
2. The Knight Commission Report on Intercollegiate Athletics: A Call to Action: Reconnecting Sports and Higher Education. 
3. The SJSU Division of Athletics Plan for Retaining Division I-A Status:  Spartans First: The 2002-2005 Master Plan for San Jose State University Intercollegiate Athletics. 
4. Official NCAA Division I-A football attendance statistics
5. The SJSU Academic Senate Report on Intercollegiate Athletics (1993)
6. The SJSU Academic Senate Resolution on the Knight Commission Report (2002)
7. Draft of SJSU's NCAA Self-Study (2002)