Chancellor Phil Dubois recommended the university add football, Sept. 18. |
Trustees Expected to Vote on Football, Thursday
Nov. 12, 2008
Charlotte, N.C. - The UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees will meet Thursday, Nov. 13, and campus leaders anticipate a final vote on Chancellor Philip L. Dubois' recommendation that the University start a football program.
At the board's Sept. 18 meeting, Dubois endorsed the idea of adding football to the University's roster of sports. His plan called for UNC Charlotte to field a football team by 2013. The proposal came during the board's meeting at the Harris Alumni Center.
At that meeting, the trustees took the chancellor's recommendation under advisement. The recommendation came after nearly two years of deliberation and research by a football feasibility committee, Dubois and others at the University.
In his presentation, Dubois said he felt the time was right for football at UNC Charlotte because it helps foster a full university experience that many students crave in their undergraduate careers and could help build even closer relationships with the greater Charlotte community. The University is expected to have 35,000 students by 2020.
Dubois said the issue was not really about whether UNC Charlotte will play football in 2013. Instead, "this should be a question of where UNC Charlotte wants to be 20 years after 2013."
In his presentation to the board in September, Dubois advised the board to consider the sale of 5,000 Forty-Niner Seat Licenses, or FSLs, to raise approximately $5 million for the UNC Charlotte football program.
In anticipation of the board's approval to go ahead with the football program, the University's Athletics Department has been accepting FSL reservations. To date, more than 4,000 FSLs, or 80 percent of the goal, have been reserved.
University administrators estimate another $40.3 million will need to be raised to address other capital expenses such as fieldhouse office and locker room space, practice facilities and the construction of a stadium.
