From The Desk Of Mark Alnutt
11/4/2020 7:00:00 AM | General
UB Nation,
As I sit at my desk to compose this letter, I have to reflect back to March 13th, 2020. The "New Normal" that we're now living due to COVID-19 hit home on that Friday the 13th day as I held the last in person meeting with our Head Coaches and senior administrative team that morning in addition to finalizing how my oldest son, Jaren, was going to travel home to Buffalo from his college in Missouri. After the meeting, we were ready to move forward with how best to serve our student-athletes understanding that we had to be nimble and prepared to pivot because information was coming at us and changing at a rapid pace. My son made the thirteen hour drive from Missouri with an overnight stay at my best friend and former teammate's house in Louisville for what was to become a three and a half month "Spring Break". My family, our community, the University at Buffalo and the Athletic Department began to push forward and embrace this new way of business.
Close to eight months later, we have an outstanding opportunity in front of us to return to competition. What a tremendous platform that we have for UB, as our football team takes on Northern Illinois at 7 PM ET on ESPN2. Prior to that first kick-off and wherever I'll be in Huskie Stadium, many emotions are going to flow through my body as this truncated 2020 football season begins. I'm genuinely excited for our student-athletes as they have an opportunity to compete on a national stage. I think about my emotions as I put myself in their shoes to begin to piece everything that they've gone through the past eight months is overwhelming.
I can't thank enough people that helped position our program to be in this position. This couldn't happen without the support of our great university and its leadership. An institution that was required to "pivot" and have to deliver a world class education in a safe manner through in-person, hybrid and remote learning modes. Our Sports Medicine personnel who worked collaboratively with medical professionals, University and Erie County officials to provide a healthy and safe environment for our student-athletes to return to meaningful in person activity while following CDC, State, NCAA and MAC guidelines. Our coaches who exhibited patience and understanding first and foremost, kept our student-athletes in a routine and thrived with working under the various guidelines from recruiting to skill instruction. Our support staff for providing critical support for our student-athletes in academic support, athletic performance, mental wellness and equipment operations. I have to personally thank our facilities and recreation personnel for maintaining the first class facilities that we have while adhering to certain restrictions and preparing our facilities for use. Our administrative and external areas have been phenomenal and continue to lead our department in uncertain times while keeping UB Athletics on top of the minds of our alumni and great supporters. Finally, our student-athletes have been phenomenal and their commitment to UB has been unwavering. They have adjusted to this new normal and are beyond ready to compete and continue to matriculate towards that degree from UB.
These times present financial challenges. We will continue to operate in an efficient manner and will be great stewards of our operating budget with the goal of not sacrificing the student-athlete experience. As we continue the 2020-21 academic year, we recognize that in addition to less revenue brought in by ticket sales, sponsorships, game guarantees, NCAA and MAC guarantees and student fees there is an increase COVID-19 expense as it pertains to testing, PPE and other related costs. Please consider supporting our Make It PossiBULL campaign which will directly offset these costs. We have set a goal of $1 million by June 30th, 2021 which correlates to these new and unanticipated costs in order for our student-athletes to compete. We need your help and I want to thank you in advance for your support. We will continue to represent you and our community with pride as we begin to take the respective field of play.
At the University at Buffalo Athletic Department, we take pride in our efforts to promote diversity and inclusion. In order to lay the foundation for change on our campus and in our community, we created the Stronger Together Task Force. This is our response to the current climate of social injustice and systemic racism which unfortunately we've witnessed way too frequently especially during these COVID times. This group is comprised of 30 student-athletes and staff who represent every team and every area of our department. We meet on a weekly basis to discuss ways that we make a positive impact. We continue to be leaders in this area on our campus and continued to be recognized in this area by the MAC and NCAA. There is still more work to be done and I'm very appreciative of the direction that we are going and the action items that we continue to implement so we can become a better department.
As we move forward with our football season with basketball and our other sport programs beginning to follow shortly after, please realize that we follow the State of New York Department of Health guidelines to conduct these activities in a safe manner. Fans are currently not allowed to attend sporting events. We understand and respect this restriction. We've partnered with our Alumni Engagement Office to provide an opportunity for our fans to watch tonight's and next week's football game at the Transit Drive In. What a great way to kick of the season by watching your Bulls play on the Big Screen while enjoying your own personal socially distanced tailgate. For more information and registration please click here. We will continue to provide these types of opportunities as we progress through our various seasons.
It's been a challenging eight months, but we've learned how to adapt to this new normal. We continue to excel as a department, and I look forward to us finally returning to competition in a meaningful and safe manner. We will represent our incredible university, alumni, fans and Western New York with great pride. Let the FUN begin!!
Go Bulls!!
Yours truly,
Mark Alnutt
As I sit at my desk to compose this letter, I have to reflect back to March 13th, 2020. The "New Normal" that we're now living due to COVID-19 hit home on that Friday the 13th day as I held the last in person meeting with our Head Coaches and senior administrative team that morning in addition to finalizing how my oldest son, Jaren, was going to travel home to Buffalo from his college in Missouri. After the meeting, we were ready to move forward with how best to serve our student-athletes understanding that we had to be nimble and prepared to pivot because information was coming at us and changing at a rapid pace. My son made the thirteen hour drive from Missouri with an overnight stay at my best friend and former teammate's house in Louisville for what was to become a three and a half month "Spring Break". My family, our community, the University at Buffalo and the Athletic Department began to push forward and embrace this new way of business.
Close to eight months later, we have an outstanding opportunity in front of us to return to competition. What a tremendous platform that we have for UB, as our football team takes on Northern Illinois at 7 PM ET on ESPN2. Prior to that first kick-off and wherever I'll be in Huskie Stadium, many emotions are going to flow through my body as this truncated 2020 football season begins. I'm genuinely excited for our student-athletes as they have an opportunity to compete on a national stage. I think about my emotions as I put myself in their shoes to begin to piece everything that they've gone through the past eight months is overwhelming.
I can't thank enough people that helped position our program to be in this position. This couldn't happen without the support of our great university and its leadership. An institution that was required to "pivot" and have to deliver a world class education in a safe manner through in-person, hybrid and remote learning modes. Our Sports Medicine personnel who worked collaboratively with medical professionals, University and Erie County officials to provide a healthy and safe environment for our student-athletes to return to meaningful in person activity while following CDC, State, NCAA and MAC guidelines. Our coaches who exhibited patience and understanding first and foremost, kept our student-athletes in a routine and thrived with working under the various guidelines from recruiting to skill instruction. Our support staff for providing critical support for our student-athletes in academic support, athletic performance, mental wellness and equipment operations. I have to personally thank our facilities and recreation personnel for maintaining the first class facilities that we have while adhering to certain restrictions and preparing our facilities for use. Our administrative and external areas have been phenomenal and continue to lead our department in uncertain times while keeping UB Athletics on top of the minds of our alumni and great supporters. Finally, our student-athletes have been phenomenal and their commitment to UB has been unwavering. They have adjusted to this new normal and are beyond ready to compete and continue to matriculate towards that degree from UB.
These times present financial challenges. We will continue to operate in an efficient manner and will be great stewards of our operating budget with the goal of not sacrificing the student-athlete experience. As we continue the 2020-21 academic year, we recognize that in addition to less revenue brought in by ticket sales, sponsorships, game guarantees, NCAA and MAC guarantees and student fees there is an increase COVID-19 expense as it pertains to testing, PPE and other related costs. Please consider supporting our Make It PossiBULL campaign which will directly offset these costs. We have set a goal of $1 million by June 30th, 2021 which correlates to these new and unanticipated costs in order for our student-athletes to compete. We need your help and I want to thank you in advance for your support. We will continue to represent you and our community with pride as we begin to take the respective field of play.
At the University at Buffalo Athletic Department, we take pride in our efforts to promote diversity and inclusion. In order to lay the foundation for change on our campus and in our community, we created the Stronger Together Task Force. This is our response to the current climate of social injustice and systemic racism which unfortunately we've witnessed way too frequently especially during these COVID times. This group is comprised of 30 student-athletes and staff who represent every team and every area of our department. We meet on a weekly basis to discuss ways that we make a positive impact. We continue to be leaders in this area on our campus and continued to be recognized in this area by the MAC and NCAA. There is still more work to be done and I'm very appreciative of the direction that we are going and the action items that we continue to implement so we can become a better department.
As we move forward with our football season with basketball and our other sport programs beginning to follow shortly after, please realize that we follow the State of New York Department of Health guidelines to conduct these activities in a safe manner. Fans are currently not allowed to attend sporting events. We understand and respect this restriction. We've partnered with our Alumni Engagement Office to provide an opportunity for our fans to watch tonight's and next week's football game at the Transit Drive In. What a great way to kick of the season by watching your Bulls play on the Big Screen while enjoying your own personal socially distanced tailgate. For more information and registration please click here. We will continue to provide these types of opportunities as we progress through our various seasons.
It's been a challenging eight months, but we've learned how to adapt to this new normal. We continue to excel as a department, and I look forward to us finally returning to competition in a meaningful and safe manner. We will represent our incredible university, alumni, fans and Western New York with great pride. Let the FUN begin!!
Go Bulls!!
Yours truly,
Mark Alnutt
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