Campus leaders: McRobbie’s search for a new athletic director could jeopardize alumni support

With IU’s name likely to be further muddied as NCAA investigations continue, top University administrators have realized potential complications caused by frustrated and disappointed alumni.\nFew envy the challenges IU President Michael McRobbie will face in the coming months, characterizing the ongoing situation as a crossroads in his young tenure. How he handles the pressure, some say, could be a telling factor for discerning alumni. \n“He’s got to become more visible” regarding the incident, said University Chancellor Ken Gros Louis.\nFor many alumni – especially those out of state – athletics success is an indicator of IU’s achievement as a whole, he said. \nOverseeing athletics is just one of the many responsibilities a University president faces. And by several accounts, it’s an area both McRobbie and his predecessor Adam Herbert allowed to self-manage. \nHowever, last Thursday’s NCAA announcement charging IU with a failure to keep a close enough eye on the department highlighted the relationship between the two University sectors, but also forced McRobbie to involve himself more actively and directly in the process, University administrators and trustees said.\nMcRobbie’s vision for growing the institution is vast. While spending significant time abroad, hoping to grow the University’s name, at home he has embarked on an ambitious building plan. The plan will require substantial alumni support. But with a shroud of negativity covering the IU Athletic Department, the prospect of convincing some alumni to donate generously could become more daunting.\n“The embarrassment people feel really dampens their enthusiasm,” Gros Louis said. \nMcRobbie’s approach now might be attributed to receiving word some major donors were considering pulling or slashing potential gifts, he said. \nMcRobbie’s concerns and actions were not based on appeasing donors, but had the greater interest of the University in mind, however, said IU Spokesman Larry MacIntyre.\n“President McRobbie very much wants to get all of the NCAA issues resolved quickly, but also in a way that is fair to our current coaches,” he said. \nThe men’s basketball recruiting scandal already cost several coaches their jobs and prompted the decision by Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan to resign at year’s end. \n“As athletics director, knowing what he did about (Kelvin) Sampson’s background, I think it was his responsibility to keep him on a very short leash his first year,” Gros Louis said.\nSampson had a history of recruiting violations at the University of Oklahoma, and IU officials warned the new coach when he took over in 2006 against committing further infractions for the Hoosiers.\nGreenspan is the latest of a host of athletics officials dismissed by IU for their involvement in recruiting scandals.\nLack of confidence in the program’s stability also prompted several of the University’s most coveted recruits to break commitments, forcing new head coach Tom Crean and staff to scramble to pin down their side. \nFor McRobbie, the scandal has cast a shadow over his administration since the beginning. The NCAA charges broke last October and overshadowed a week of activities planned to celebrate the new president.\nWhen asked, several administrators and alumni said the recruiting scandal is for McRobbie what a failed chancellor search was for former president Adam Herbert in 2004. The controversy surrounding that search eventually led to Herbert’s departure, paving the way for McRobbie and his ambitious plans for IU.\nThe president and trustees’ handling of the situation has drawn criticism from those who say the officials have acted too blasé in their approach to the issue. Trustee candidate Samuel Locke said while he understands officials’ desire not to micromanage the situation, more direct guidance was needed from the top.\n“I think it could be a case study in mismanagement,” Locke said, adding that a more vigorous approach should have been taken from the beginning. \nWith alumni scattered around the world, their knowledge of IU is often limited to following athletic teams, said Barry Gellers, IU New York City alumni chapter president. And Gellers acknowledged how quickly opinion can build or slide. \n“As long as the team is winning, (alumni) are willing to sweep anything under the rug,” he said. “But look how quickly things changed.”\nAdding that it’s been a “tough couple of months,” Gellers said the Hoosiers’ performance on the court would, in part, sway sentiment about the University’s direction. \nIt will be up to McRobbie, Locke and others argue, to provide a guiding hand through the storm. \n“It’s a matter of focusing his attention on areas he might not otherwise have focused on as much,” Gros Louis said. “And maybe he should have.”