Dear Dolphin fan:
Thank you for taking the time to visit our official website, LemoyneDolphins.com. I hope you will take the time to return to our site often so that you can keep up with all the exciting developments that take place within our LeMoyne College athletics "family". Please feel free to use this link to offer comments, suggestions, or to ask any questions or voice your concerns. Once each month I will respond to as many of the issues as I can in a blog located here on this link.
On behalf of all of us here in the department of athletics, Thank You very much for your contiuned interest and support!
Matt Bassett
Director of Athletics
November 2007
Thank you very much for taking the time to write to our "Ask the
A.D." link. Each month I will attempt to consolidate as many
questions as I can to make for an easy yet informative read.
However one question has stood out above all of the others so
let’s address this one first.
Q: “What is being done about the future of Division I
Baseball and Division I Women’s Lacrosse since the MAAC
conference has decided not offer you membership this coming year?
Do you have a personal preference for Division I or Division
II?”
A: Important question for sure! We are in the midst of a process
that will go through several stages and each stage will proceed at
a different pace from the proceeding stage. Some faster, while some
will drag on a bit. As you may have read we had applied to a
handful of conferences that we felt offered a legitimate chance for
us to be competitive. That stage of the process took a couple
months from start to finish. Each conference had their own process
for entertaining such a request and it was difficult to speed
anyone up. Unfortunately we did not receive any good news in terms
of invitations to join.
We, as an institution, decided that competing as a Division I
independent in both sports was the immediate best response for us.
We are now engaged in the lengthy process of considering the best
longer term solution for our current situation. This may take some
time and in fact should take some time. We are talking about how to
best position athletics as an asset to the institution - an asset
that can uniquely engage campus, community, and alumni all over the
country. We are talking about a decision that should consider a 15,
20, or 30 year timeline of what athletics can represent at Le
Moyne. The entire community, not just athletics, has a vested
interest in the outcome of this conversation and therefore all
opinions are being sought and should be heard.
Although the decision by the MAAC was brutally unfortunate for our
two teams and their coaches, it has offered Le Moyne an incredible
opportunity to look within itself and determine the future of
intercollegiate athletics for all of its teams. I am happy and
excited to be part of that conversation.
Lastly, when asked if I have a preference regarding a particular
Divisional classification at Le Moyne and I can honestly say I do
not. I have been given an incredible opportunity to be involved
during a brief period of time in what will be a long, long
tradition of successful athletics at LeMoyne. I am only borrowing
the keys for as long as they will let me. The decision we are all
involved in might well impact folks for a decade or two down the
road. My preference is to work as hard as I can, as quickly as I
can, to understand what is in the best interest of LeMoyne College
and to protect the program for those who have already participated,
and to enhance the program for those who have yet to
participate.
Matt
