editor@insideuab.com
Political cartoon by Thomas Baldwin“I made this decision today...there is still work to be done, we need to raise these funds,” President Ray Watts MD said in the question and answer segment of the press conference on Monday, June 1. This decision, six months in the making, solidified Monday’s leaked information that football, bowling and rifle would return to UAB. For more information regarding the build up to this decision read below, and go to our website for more information.The UAB football termination saga has finally ended. Since the release of the College Sports Solutions report, the eyes of UAB fans and students as well as the entire state of Alabama have been upon the key stakeholder and decision maker of UAB’s future: its president, Ray L. Watts M.D.
Marking June 1 as the D-Day of the three sports’ future, Watts’ use of the word “by” in a University-distributed email on May 13 induced skepticism amongst UAB constituents.
“We plan to make an announcement by June 1. This announcement will be made via our website, social media channels and by email when an official decision has been reached,” he said.
On Thursday, May 21, State Representative Jack Williams woke morning news viewers with claims that the decision had already been made and that UAB Football was terminated. "What I’ve heard from three different sources over the last 12 hours is that Dr. Watts is planning to issue an email at 7 p.m. on Friday night at the beginning of the Memorial Day Weekend,” he said to Good Day Alabama on Fox 6 News.
President Watts issued a rebuttal. “No decision has been made yet regarding the reassessment of the future of the football, rifle and bowling programs at UAB,” he said. “...We plan to make an announcement by June 1.”
The use of the word “by” again, instead of “on” fueled rumors that the decision had already been made and that an announcement was to come sooner than promised.
On Wednesday, May 27, internet forums leaked information that the President was meeting with coaches to discuss the fate of UAB Football, Bowling and Rifle at 4 p.m. in the Administration Building. In response, the members of the #FreeUAB movement organized a protest outside of the building.
At 4:44 p.m., Kaleidoscope’s Managing Editor reported from the scene on Twitter that at an employee in Watts’ office said the “meeting consisted of ‘just coaches’ and that they didn’t know if Watts’ had left for the day.”
On Thursday at 5:07 p.m., NPR reporter, Michael Oder found Dr. Watts’ walking to his car. Watts told NPR he felt the day’s meeting was “productive.”
As the June 1 date drew nearer, students and alumni all shared different perspectives for their predications of the football outcome.
Courtney Campbell, a UAB senior, has been involved with the #FreeUAB movement since November 2014 when rumors began of football’s termination later to be proven true on Dec. 2, 2014. She says her biggest grievance with the UAB administration is the handling of the situation. “There is a lack of openness with students and that is seriously disconcerting. If I pay money to go here, I deserve answers and transparency. Also, Dr. Watts is not making an effort selling himself to the students,” she said. “A CSS rep told me that a university president is supposed to be the face of that university. Students are supposed to know that president and know who they are and be comfortable with that person.”
Kaleidoscope reached out for a statement from President Watts and other members of the decision making process to learn how students and student life quality were factored into the decision. Media Relations directed Kaleidoscope to Watts’ earlier statement from May 13 regarding the “CSS report, along with other important, valuable and mission-critical data” that went into making the decision.
Despite her distrust in the upper UAB administration, Campbell said that she was optimistic that football will return. However, UAB alumnus Dr. John Knox, a professor at the University of Georgia, does not share her positive outlook. He says that, based on his research, the problem is deeper than football.
A strong opponent of Watts and the University of Alabama Board of Trustees, Knox warns students and the UAB community that even if football should return, trust in the governing bodies should not.
“The Watts administration has repeatedly lied to students, faculty, staff and alumni. They have to somehow regain the UAB community's trust. It's not a matter of the UAB community returning to full trust with them. The onus is on an administration that has given the middle finger to virtually everyone at UAB in one way or another, all the way up to the vice presidents and all the way down to the high-school kids who wanted to play football, or bowl, or do rifle, at UAB,” he said.
“It's preposterous...to suggest that it's the responsibility of the UAB community to "return" to full trust. I don't trust Ray Watts any farther than I can throw him. Who does, Paul Bryant Jr.?”
“We said football could only return with proper finances to make us competitive. Today, we have financial resources that have never before existed to support football and UAB athletics.” Watts said in his press conference at 4 p.m. on June 1.
Now, UAB has the answer to the question “will football return?” Whether the University’s community praises or mourns the decision is subjective, regardless of the outcome that football has returned.
