Joe Alleva's main objectives have not changed a whole lot since he took over as Duke's athletic director late last winter. And with last week's detailed description of the athletic department's involvement in the Campaign for Duke, those objectives could be moving a lot closer to fruition.
As part of the $1.5-billion campaign, athletics at Duke will receive a total of $65 million by the end of 2003. Broken down, $20 million apiece is allotted to scholarship endowment for women's athletics and improvements to facilities with the remaining $25 million expected to come from the Iron Dukes annual fund, which chiefly provides yearly funding for scholarships.
"I'm just tickled to death that we are included in this campaign because there are many institutions where athletics would not be part of a campaign like this," Alleva said.
The entire University fundraising campaign has already raised $684 million, a portion of which is funding current construction efforts on both the Wilson Recreation Center and Butters-Schwartz Complex.
But the bulk of the campaign money for athletics is allocated toward scholarship endowment, primarily for women. Not coincidentally, Alleva has targeted Title IX and equity over the past seven months, having added 25 women's scholarships already with a projected goal of about 36 more through the campaign.
"We need to endow scholarships so we can improve and increase the number of scholarships we give to women," Alleva said. "I want to offer that without cutting scholarships to men.
"We're planning on being progressive with the scholarships and hoping we can raise the money each year. The money's not all going to come in in 2003, it's hopefully going to come in as we go along. We're going to be progressive and add scholarships."
As Alleva said, while many women's teams will benefit from the plan, men's programs will not be gaining endowments anytime soon. Over the next few years with regards to scholarships, men will fall behind their female counterparts in such sports as track and field.
Because Title IX now requires a school to have a ratio of male-female athletic scholarships that matches the overall student body enrollment, the 85 full scholarships given to football players require Duke to continue adding scholarships for women's teams.
"If you're going to be a men's coach at Duke, you just have to decide for yourself if that's a system you want to work with," associate men's track coach Norm Ogilvie said. "I know I definitely do. It's a satisfying thing to buck the odds and try to overcome it."
Duke will have to continue overcoming odds as it looks toward its other priority-a facilities upgrade. Alleva and Executive Vice President Tallman Trask, among others, list a new football complex and renovations to Cameron Indoor Stadium as top priorities.
The need for a football facility is obvious. Duke lags far behind many of its rivals in the ACC, as the Murray Building currently houses both football offices and a weight room that all 26 varsity programs share. A new facility would make the biggest difference with recruiting, Alleva said, because many top recruits choose other schools at least partly because of their superior facilities.
"We know that [a new football facility] is the top priority," football coach Fred Goldsmith said. "I'm really letting Joe handle all of that, but I'm sure we're going to benefit from the capital campaign. We need the benefit of it badly."
With regards to Cameron, Alleva's main priority is to keep it upgraded so as to maintain its mystique and keep both basketball programs among the nation's elite. In an interview last July, men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski also stressed the paramount importance of maintaining Cameron as a centerpiece for the entire athletic complex.
How will the athletic department help raise money for the campaign? The Iron Dukes, who usually raise $4-5 million annually, will continue their support. In addition, after about a month-long search, Alleva announced last week the hiring of Susan Ross to take over as the athletic department's full-time fundraiser.
Ross, the director of development for athletics and an associate athletic director, was serving as associate dean for development in arts and sciences, a position that she relinquished with the prospects of a new challenge.
"I've raised a lot of money for Duke University," Ross said. "Joe said real clearly that he needs someone who can raise money, and I can. I've been on the academic fundraising side. I think it's an interesting background for athletic fundraising, but it's fitting for Duke because of the academic background."
Neither Ross nor Alleva sees a lack of experience with sports as a detriment for Ross, and many within Trinity College wanted Ross to stay with them.
Her plan with athletics is to establish the far-reaching success she did in Trinity College. She said she feels that there are many potential donors who have never been contacted and that current Iron Dukes could be asked to do more.
"There's a lot of ground in the middle that has tremendous potential for athletics, and a lot of it is untapped potential," Ross said. "There are a lot of alumni whose main interest at Duke is athletics.
"If all they're ever asked to do is join Iron Dukes, that's what they'll do. If they're asked to do more, they'll think about it. To set up a system that can do that is very important."
Through the Campaign for Duke, the athletic department's system for raising money will run in the same circles as the entire University's. How far that pushes Duke up in the Sears' Director's Cup standings or in Title IX compliance is uncertain, but a new direction for the athletic department clearly continues to take shape.
"We have a number of things we want to get done," Trask said. "It'll happen as soon as the money is available."
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