Help Send the Pep Band to NYC for the NIT

[agibson]

Update: it looks like the GoFundMe has been replaced by an appeal for targeted donations to the Valpo Fund via
https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1347/giving/index.aspx?sid=1347&gid=1&pgid=463&cid=1166&dids=72

original message below:
I don't have time to follow up on this now - I've only heard a tiny bit of info.  But:
https://www.gofundme.com/yfvrvrac

A "gofundme" to send the VU pep band to NYC?

The Valparaiso University Men's Basketball team has reached the NIT final 4 and will play at Madison Square Garden the last week of March. Unfortuantely due to funds, the university is not able to send the Crusader Band to the tourneyment and instead is looking for a high school band in New York to represent the team.

Crusader band has been in integral part of the basketball team for years and has always accompanied the team and cheerleaders in post-season tourneyment play (NCAA or NIT). We need OUR band there, not some high school band with little connection to the school.

I wonder if there's another side to the story? But don't have time to hunt right now.

Perhaps deserves its own thread, but I thought I'd throw this up somewhere to get the discussion started.

[agibson]

Some are pointing to a Valpo Fund page instead
https://t.co/HKi9rXe3zO
https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1347/giving/index.aspx?sid=1347&gid=1&pgid=463&cid=1166&dids=72

I'm not sure what the whole story is here.

Apologies if this discussion's already happening on the NIT thread or something. I only had a minute to look at this, but it seems like if this discussion/campaign is going to happen it had better start pronto.

[agibson]

Some on twitter (Paul and one other) seem to be pointing people preferentially toward the ValpoFund page.

[tweet]713035727026655232[/tweet]

I'm not sure exactly what's going on. But, surely a gift to the ValpoFund mentioning the pep band, athletics, basketball, etc. would always be appreciated and would be one reasonable way to send a message.

(And it seems that the link https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1347/giving/index.aspx?sid=1347&gid=1&pgid=463&cid=1166&dids=72 does pre-tag the pep band for the contribution.)

[swiftmutiny]

Let's make sure the fight song is played in Madison Square Garden! DONATE!

[oklahomamick]

https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1347/giving/index.aspx?sid=1347&gid=1&pgid=463&cid=1166&dids=72

[Valpower]

Ugh.  That Valpo Fund page is so Web 1.0.  There's no feedback as to how much they need and what their current levels of funding are.  There's no marketing of the cause.  In short there is no excitement, urgency, or appeal to anybody but those who are already knowledgeable of the cause.  It would really be nice if this critical site had the ability to inform.

[vu84v2]

I also would like to know how much money they need. They need to provide an amount, what the University currently would provide, and how they would spend it.

When you travel for large tournament events, you send your band and your cheerleaders. It looks really bad otherwise.

One other related comment: I have never liked the way that the Valpo Fund is run. They really push it as an amorphous fund where donors just trust the people running it. Instead of providing a financial breakdown of where the money goes (and I admit that it may be available and I do not know where to get it), they only offer emotional tales of how the money helps. The people who run it may be very trustworthy, but how they project the running of this fund is not consistent with trustworthiness and transparency.

[a3uge]

Ugh.  That Valpo Fund page is so Web 1.0.  There's no feedback as to how much they need and what their current levels of funding are.  There's no marketing of the cause.  In short there is no excitement, urgency, or appeal to anybody but those who are already knowledgeable of the cause.  It would really be nice if this critical site had the ability to inform.

I went to donate from my phone, then after clicking Next, it timed out and wiped the entire form. Not too happy about that...

[agibson]

I also would like to know how much money they need. They need to provide an amount, what the University currently would provide, and how they would spend it.

From twitter, and the now closed GoFundMe, it sounds like the target is $20,000. The GoFundMe might have had better tools for explaining the context, helping to build momentum in the campaign, etc, etc. But, with Valpo Fund they likely get the money without a commission (or less of a commission?) and the tax deductibility may be cleaner.

But, it's clear this is being done in a big hurry. Probably in significant part by students who have classes to deal with, and to get ahead on if they're hoping to miss several days next week for a trip to NYC. With a holiday weekend, to boot.

I'd love to hear something from the Athletic Department. But, I'll consider a donation - will probably chip in something. I'd even separately considered the possibility of a "fan pool", for any post-season travel. Some of us may have more money than time, but a desire to see the team supported by fans, and might be willing to help support those with the time to travel. I suppose supporting the pep band is a version of that.

As for accountability, I have good confidence that a gift targeted to the Pep Band will be used by/for the Pep Band. But, it's true, for the unrestricted gifts that they otherwise solicit for the Valpo Fund it would be great to have transparency about how the gifts are used. Likely the folks over in advancement would be happy for your feedback http://support.valpo.edu/s/1347/advIndex.aspx?sid=1347&gid=1&pgid=881 (especially if your feedback came with a donation as a show of support!). Glancing at the web site, it seems that it's more anecdotal than quantitative (I don't see any of the sorts of pie charts you get on the back of your IRS 1040 booklet).

[vu84v2]

I agree that money donated for the band to go to NYC would be used 100% for that purpose. I hope that no one thinks otherwise and I do believe that the people running the Valpo Fund are ethical in that regard.

We have previously attempted to make significant donations for a purpose with the knowledge and agreement of the college that we were making the donation to. The Valpo Fund did not let the college do what had been agreed to and required the money go through them. We reached an alternative agreement where the Valpo Fund people agreed to follow through on specific terms we wanted for the donation. They accepted the money, but then only sent us general stories of happy students receiving scholarships rather than information on how the specific donation was used (which they had agreed to). We voiced our displeasure and they were very pleasant, but did not do anything additional. The bottom line is that they want money donated where its usage is completely at their discretion, which is fine for small donations but not acceptable for larger ones where donors want their money to go for a purpose. After wading through the Valpo Fund organization, it was clear that they have no intention of giving anyone discretion if they donate less than $50K and will push for them retaining complete discretion for donations greater than $50K.

[humbleopinion]

The fund is half way to the goal.  Please keep giving.

[a3uge]

How much are they raising? How many students are actually going? What happens with the money if they don't raise enough? Have they ripped up the sheet music for Time Warp yet?

These are legitimate questions and it's unfortunate the university isn't really facilitating this. I really wish the athletic department would take over the pep band instead of it being a self-run student organization.

[agibson]

The VU alumni Facebook page reports they're about 3/4 of the way to their target.

I hear that travel money from the NIT is rather limited, and a fraction of what the university will be paying to send the basketball team and their traveling party which includes some kind of a cheer squad.

I don't know what's been done in the past for eg first round NIT games on the road or the CBI etc.

[agibson]

[tweet]713131479677710337[/tweet]

[vufan75]

The VU alumni Facebook page reports they're about 3/4 of the way to their target.

I hear that travel money from the NIT is rather limited, and a fraction of what the university will be paying to send the basketball team and their traveling party which includes some kind of a cheer squad.

I don't know what's been done in the past for eg first round NIT games on the road or the CBI etc.

I may just be a grumpy ol' man on this topic, but here goes anyway.

Why can't/won't ValpoU step up and pay for the pep band to go to NYC. These young men and women donate countless hours to represent Valpo at sporting events during the year. They get no $$ in return, just willingly give freely of their time and talent. In the big picture $20k is not "that" big a deal for a university with a decent endowment (I know Pres Heckler wants it larger) and students/families paying $40-50k per year to attend Valpo.  I agree the volunteer pep band should be brought under Athletics and they also should get some stipend for their efforts. (Other than a trip to Detroit for Motor City Madness....woohoo [emoji20])

Seems to me to be another example of the VU administration (whomever makes these decisions) not showing tangible support and respect for the accomplishments and efforts of VU MBB. VU MBB, like it or not, provides so much positive exposure for the university by it's success, tv appearances, other media coverage, etc., which is difficult to measure but certainly a good thing for the school overall. It helps to open the door with prospective students. This is/was an opportunity for Valpo to put it's best foot forward and do the right thing. I realize everyone has a budget, but geesh, we are talking about being in the NIT Final 4 in NYC at MSG on national cable tv! How many times has that happened before at Valpo?

From empty promises on improved athletic facilities for our school, specifically for our signature sport MBB, this strikes me as yet another case of lack of real institutional support for Athletics and MBB. What were the facility comments again when the MVC came to look a couple years ago? I only hope we really don't hire a local NY high school band if the "help send the pep band" appeal falls short of it's goal/need. It seems nobody knew what the NIT would or would not pay for teams getting to MSG.

I'm not sure why, but this subject just bugged me since I first read about it today. I normally don't vent on this board. Sorry to be long-winded. To end my little rant, it seems to me that if you want to play NCAA D1 sports with the big boys and girls, then you need to act like it when success comes along.

Can't end this though without a #govalpo and #BeatBYU shoutout to MBB. Will be cheering for you!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

[agibson]

[tweet]713358979318067201[/tweet]

[HC]

Fantastic! I imagine the university dug through a few couch cushions to chip in. I can't imagine it only cost $10k to send that many band members to NYC and put them up in a hotel for at least one night maybe three nights.

Kudos to all who pitched in!

[agibson]

How many students are actually going?

The roster I've seen on their "here's your official class excuse to show your instructors" has fifteen names.

[valpo64]

What is all the talk about the need to stay either 1 or 3 nights?  I believe there is a consolation game on Thursday prior to the  title game so all the teams will play 2 games.  You surely don't mean the band would be there for the first game and if they lose will not be there for the Thursday game?

[vusupporter]

There hasn't been a third-place game for over a decade.

[historyman]

What is all the talk about the need to stay either 1 or 3 nights?  I believe there is a consolation game on Thursday prior to the  title game so all the teams will play 2 games.  You surely don't mean the band would be there for the first game and if they lose will not be there for the Thursday game?

Does one have to buy a separate ticket for the NIT consolation game?

[frontrowfan]

What is all the talk about the need to stay either 1 or 3 nights?  I believe there is a consolation game on Thursday prior to the  title game so all the teams will play 2 games.  You surely don't mean the band would be there for the first game and if they lose will not be there for the Thursday game?

Does one have to buy a separate ticket for the NIT consolation game?

there is no consolation game...only the Championship game on Thurs.  I think the 3rd night is because they will leave on Friday morning after the Thursday night game

[historyman]

There hasn't been a third-place game for over a decade.

Ohhhhhh-kay.

[talksalot]

Does one have to buy a separate ticket for the NIT consolation game

YES... and with that ticket comes the deed to the Brooklyn Bridge and a share of my powerball winnings.

[agibson]

[tweet]715178080348803076[/tweet]