Glass grants faculty, staff free entry to all sports except football, men’s basketball

IU Athletics Director Fred Glass is reaching out to IU’s faculty and staff to try to fill seats at non-revenue sports.

Glass announced Tuesday that what he calls the “Olympic sports” will provide free admission to faculty and staff members in an effort to integrate athletics and the University.

The plan stemmed from discussion of renewing free passes for department employees, who have had this perk for the past 30 years.

“As we were going through that discussion, I sort of thought, maybe this was an opportunity to provide that not only to our employees, but to full-time faculty and staff,” Glass said.

Like the student body, faculty and staff members can now get into these sporting events for free with a valid IU ID. One guest will also be allowed into the event free of charge.

Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education Kurt Zorn said he appreciates the effort by the athletics department to work with the University and believes the faculty and staff will react positively to it.

“It will encourage people who may not have thought about going to one of the non-revenue sports to attend,” Zorn said.

Zorn also mentioned the possibility of student-athletes encouraging their professors to go to their competitions and that there is a greater emphasis on the players doing so than in the past.

This emphasis is designed to increase “intermingling among faculty and student-athletes,” Zorn said.

“I think, at times, there is a possibility that faculty may view student-athletes to be a little bit different and not to understand the demands that are put on student-athletes to both be students and competitors,” Zorn said. “The fact that you may be able to encourage more faculty through this program to attend competitions will allow the faculty to see the student-athletes in a different setting and maybe better appreciate the demands that are put on those individuals in the other phase of their life at Indiana University.”

Professor of business economics and public policy Bruce Jaffee, the faculty representative on the Athletics Committee, said there are some monetary risks to this program.

“The faculty and staff have been pretty good with attendance at the Olympic sports that we charge for, especially women’s basketball,” Jaffee said. “There certainly will be a financial hit by letting those people in for free.”

However, Jaffe, Glass and Zorn agree that in this case, it’s not about the money.

“It’s really a great way to say ‘Thank you, faculty and staff, for your support of
athletics,’” Jaffee said. “I think it’s really important. I think this is a great opportunity to thank them for their support and indicate that IU athletics is more than just basketball and football, as well.”