ESPN Article on Gonzaga

[covufan]

ESPN Article on Gonzaga getting healthier since tournament run in 1999.

http://www.espn.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/119205/how-the-basketball-program-helped-gonzaga-university-flourish


How the basketball program helped Gonzaga University flourish

12:02 PM MT

Dana O'Neil
ESPN Senior Writer


With a net in his hands and a Final Four cap on his head, coach Mark Few tried to disembark elegantly from the ladder standing beneath the basket.

Out from the crowd of celebrating Gonzaga players came Przemek Karnowski, the 300-pound bear of a player spreading his arms wide to catch his coach.

It was, considering time, place and event, a perfect metaphor for coach and university. Standing quite literally at the highest point of his coaching career, Few finally needed someone from Gonzaga to rescue him.

For 19 years, he'd been doing the saving, his Bulldogs not only growing a basketball team from nothing but also helping to save a university in the process.

"The school was in real trouble" was the assessment of longtime benefactor Jack McCann in 1998.

Asked to join the board of trustees that year, the Gonzaga graduate discovered his alma mater was falling apart, operating at a deficit for several years, the school's credit rating plummeting, the endowment slipping and administrators forced to slash budgets simply to pay the bills.

The small, Catholic, private and enrollment-reliant school welcomed a bottoming-out freshman class of 550 students, continuing a dismal trend of shrinking enrollment that saw the school's undergraduate population dip from 4,176 in 1990 to 2,791 just eight years later.

Staring at a $1 million deficit -- no small sum for a school of its size -- university administrators eliminated 30 positions and laid off five more employees. There was even talk of reducing the basketball staff, the board discussing eliminating one full-time position that would have cost Bill Grier his job. A small group of faculty went so far as to suggest the university consider abandoning Division I athletics altogether.

If things weren't entirely dire, they were certainly heading that way, Gonzaga in danger of becoming "just another middling, struggling university at best," in MCann's opinion, with perhaps an even more ominous future.

Eight months later, and in what at the time seemed little more than a happy and temporary diversion, Gonzaga's basketball team rolled from its 10th-seeded spot in the West Region of the NCAA tournament all the way to an improbable berth in the Elite Eight.

That August, more than 700 freshmen enrolled at Gonzaga.

The following year, Few's first as head coach, Gonzaga made it to the Sweet 16.

The next semester, a freshman class of more than 900 arrived on campus.

Seventeen years later, the student population keeps rolling in lockstep with the basketball team's success. No one considers the Bulldogs a mere happy diversion anymore.

The pairing of better enrollment and a raised basketball profile is known as the Flutie Effect. It's named for former Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie, whose Hail Mary touchdown pass against Miami in 1984 and subsequent Heisman Trophy campaign gave rise to a 16 percent enrollment bump at Boston College.

Plenty of other schools have enjoyed the one-year injection thanks to sports fame since -- after Ali Farokhmanesh hit a 3-pointer to beat Kansas, Northern Iowa saw a 30 percent increase in admission calls and nearly quadrupled its page views online; after its 2010 Final Four run, Butler's applications rose 40 percent.

What has happened at Gonzaga is a lot more than the Flutie Effect.

"This isn't like we had two years of success and dropped off the scene," university president Thayne McCulloh said. "We're celebrating almost two decades of continued success for a little school from Spokane, and I know there are people who have been very generous to this university in many ways -- with their resources, their time and their support -- and I know there are students who would never have become part of all of this without the success of our basketball team."

Really, the entire place is different.

Since 2004 seven new buildings have sprouted up on the Gonzaga campus, including a state-of-the-art student center. In the fall, the school broke ground on a new basketball practice facility that also will house a Hall of Fame, and in the spring a new performing arts center will begin to take form.

Donations are at an all-time high -- a capital campaign launched just last year already has received $226 million of its $250 million -- as are both applications and the school's student profile. With more people seeking entry into Gonzaga, the school changed its admissions process in 2003, abandoning the less selective rolling admissions plan and going to a pooling program in which students are given a hard deadline to apply and are considered collectively.

In large part due to that shift, students today come to campus with an average 3.71 GPA and 1290 SAT score, up from 3.54 and 1159 in 1998.

When the Bulldogs first made the NCAA tournament, people debated how to pronounce the school name -- you say Gone-ZAH-ga, I say Gone-ZAG-uh -- while Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth scrounged up $125,000 to buy local TV rights for five whopping games. The Bulldogs today are a national program, with a lucrative Nike contract as well as a 10-year deal with sports marketing firm IMG to manage multimedia rights.

This week an undergraduate population of 5,160, including more than 1,200 freshmen, will cheer as their beloved Zags head to Phoenix.

"We weren't going to shut the doors [at that moment], but you can only do what we were doing for so long and survive," said former president Father Robert Spitzer, who held the position from July 1998 to 2008. "We weren't at that point yet, but to get to the heart of it, let's just say, 'Thank God for the basketball team.'"

Put simply, the Bulldogs helped save Gonzaga.

[VULB#62]

This has to go to President Heckler and all board members. Who is gonna do that? Both have to understand that we have blown numerous opportunities to achieve similar results: the shot and sweet 16, the MVC opportunity, the NIT final, and there are probably more.

[bbtds]

'Thank God for the basketball team.'"

This has to go to President Heckler and all board members. Who is gonna do that? Both have to understand that we have blown numerous opportunities to achieve similar results: the shot and sweet 16, the MVC opportunity, the NIT final, and there are probably more.

It's not that the VU administrators don't know about how athletic dept success can transfer to university success it's that they reject the notion that Valpo will center their reputation on athletics. For the administrators/board that doesn't appreciate athletics that is simply, in the words of the Star Trek character, Spock, "illogical." Valpo is not an athletics type of institution and as long as they are in charge it never will be. Henry Baker Brown didn't include athletics in His school. It was included to attract students in a time Valpo was desperate for students. The Lutheran University Association that assumed ownership of Valparaiso University in 1926 did not see athletics as important to the mission of VU. They were educating Lutheran laymen church members to be well educated and academic successes to lead the Lutheran churches of the future. Athletic success has always been coincidental at Valpo. If you want to be a fan of a school whose success and reputation is centered on sports, like Gonzaga, then you would be wise to choose another university other than Valpo. That is the reason that Homer and Bryce (yes, his name is really not Bruce) Drew finally had to leave Valpo and tie their athletic success to another institution, like Vanderbilt, because Valpo was not the place that the Drew family could fulfill their potential in the athletics world. Valpo will never be a Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Stanford, etc. who see athletic success as being as important or at least nearly as important as academic success. Valpo sees itself more like the University of Chicago or Washington University, St Louis, where athletic success was passed over long ago for academic success.

[VULB#62]

I found that the article, however, had a more subtle point to make that actually dovetails with what President Heckler and the B of T have as goals:  The impact of BB increased enrollment (isn't the goal too get to 6,000?), raised admission standards due to a bigger applicant pool (leading to higher national rankings and improved institutional reputation), and increased alumni donations that fund new/upgraded academic facilities (7 new buildings since 2004).  Wikipedia lists the Gonzaga endowment at $181.4 million as of 2016.  And just this year they started a $250 million fund drive (sound familiar?) that has already received $226 million (Valpo in the same time frame has, what, $150 million?)

Investment note: In the process of getting to where they are now, 12 YEARS AGO they constructed a nice 6,000 seat arena (The MAC - McCarthy Athletic Center, or the "New Kennel" or K2). With retractable first level seating, it had a useable surface footprint about the same as the ARC when the bleachers are pulled back.  Upper level seating is non-retractable chair backs.

[bbtds]

I found that the article, however, had a more subtle point to make that actually dovetails with what President Heckler and the B of T have as goals:  The impact of BB increased enrollment (isn't the goal too get to 6,000?), raised admission standards due to a bigger applicant pool (leading to higher national rankings and improved institutional reputation), and increased alumni donations that fund new/upgraded academic facilities (7 new buildings since 2004). 

I'm saying that President Heckler and the B of T don't want students, in general, that are attracted by athletics success but are attracted by a superior academic rating and will be students that help this academic standing. They don't want to be an athletic success because among their peers I think the members of the board see it as superficial or only cosmetic in nature and not the true nature of Valparaiso University. Otherwise they would have embraced the success that Homer, Scott and Bryce Drew brought to Valpo. They obviously didn't embrace that athletic success or there would have been more money provided for a scholarship football program when football costs started to skyrocket. The AD would have more money to pay for a more successful women's basketball coach. There would have been a new or remodeled ARC/facility for basketball by now. All the things that people, like us, want who support the expansion of athletics/basketball at Valpo. It's why Valpo has a large group of students that don't care at all about attending Valpo athletic events and only care about academics. I think the message has been delivered loud and clear but a lot of us, those who favor athletic expansion at Valpo, don't like the answer. It's time to hear the answer and decide if you want to support a school that doesn't want to be known for athletic success. If you do it's time to support the athletics at another school.

[VULB#62]

I found that the article, however, had a more subtle point to make that actually dovetails with what President Heckler and the B of T have as goals:  The impact of BB increased enrollment (isn't the goal to get to 6,000?), raised admission standards due to a bigger applicant pool (leading to higher national rankings and improved institutional reputation), and increased alumni donations that fund new/upgraded academic facilities (7 new buildings since 2004). 

I'm saying that President Heckler and the B of T don't want students, in general, that are attracted by athletics success but are attracted by a superior academic rating and will be students that help this academic standing. They don't want to be an athletic success because among their peers I think the members of the board see it as superficial or only cosmetic in nature and not the true nature of Valparaiso University. Otherwise they would have embraced the success that Homer, Scott and Bryce Drew brought to Valpo. They obviously didn't embrace that athletic success or there would have been more money provided for a scholarship football program when football costs started to skyrocket. The AD would have more money to pay for a more successful women's basketball coach. There would have been a new or remodeled ARC/facility for basketball by now. All the things that people, like us, want who support the expansion of athletics/basketball at Valpo. It's why Valpo has a large group of students that don't care at all about attending Valpo athletic events and only care about academics. I think the message has been delivered loud and clear but a lot of us, those who favor athletic expansion at Valpo, don't like the answer. It's time to hear the answer and decide if you want to support a school that doesn't want to be known for athletic success. If you do it's time to support the athletics at another school.

I hear you, BUT minds can be changed.  Does it matter what first attracts a good, academically qualified student?  HS GPAs and SATs showed a marked improvement in incoming students after Gonzaga's success.  Alumni giving increased after Gonzaga's success.  There comes a time when the light bulb goes on and the means become less important than the result.  What you are saying is that Heckler and the B of T are satisfied with remaining on the upper edge of mediocrity despite paying lip service to lofty aspirations.   

[a3uge]

I'm just wondering what $ amount would be considered 'caring about athletics' - we have the second highest budget in the Horizon and had one of the highest paid coaches. Is it not caring until we are #1 in the conference (ahead of Detroit)?

[vu72]

I don't think you need to look any further than the US NEWS ranking to see that athletic success can translate to academic reputation or vice versa.  We have been stuck on 4 or 5 for quite a while while the perennial number 1 (Creighton) has moved from the Valley to the Big East.  Their games are packed with fans.

[crusaderjoe]

I found that the article, however, had a more subtle point to make that actually dovetails with what President Heckler and the B of T have as goals:  The impact of BB increased enrollment (isn't the goal too get to 6,000?), raised admission standards due to a bigger applicant pool (leading to higher national rankings and improved institutional reputation), and increased alumni donations that fund new/upgraded academic facilities (7 new buildings since 2004). 

I'm saying that President Heckler and the B of T don't want students, in general, that are attracted by athletics success but are attracted by a superior academic rating and will be students that help this academic standing. They don't want to be an athletic success because among their peers I think the members of the board see it as superficial or only cosmetic in nature and not the true nature of Valparaiso University. Otherwise they would have embraced the success that Homer, Scott and Bryce Drew brought to Valpo. They obviously didn't embrace that athletic success or there would have been more money provided for a scholarship football program when football costs started to skyrocket. The AD would have more money to pay for a more successful women's basketball coach. There would have been a new or remodeled ARC/facility for basketball by now. All the things that people, like us, want who support the expansion of athletics/basketball at Valpo. It's why Valpo has a large group of students that don't care at all about attending Valpo athletic events and only care about academics. I think the message has been delivered loud and clear but a lot of us, those who favor athletic expansion at Valpo, don't like the answer. It's time to hear the answer and decide if you want to support a school that doesn't want to be known for athletic success. If you do it's time to support the athletics at another school.

Personally, it's not that I don't like the answer anymore--I'm just numb to it by now.  Four capital campaigns and $0.00 has still been allocated to substantial ARC venue upgrades.  I've come to realize that it is what it is.  I suppose this is why when I do have extra money to donate, it is usually sent to Miami.  I still root for VU don't get me wrong, but it is what it is.

[valpo64]

Valpo also saw a big increase in applications, etc. after our "Sweet 16" run with Bryce's shot.  I believe it also carried over to increases in gifts to the University.  Like someone once said,  some people never learn.

[VULB#62]

I'm just wondering what $ amount would be considered 'caring about athletics' - we have the second highest budget in the Horizon and had one of the highest paid coaches. Is it not caring until we are #1 in the conference (ahead of Detroit)?

Here's my take FWIW.  From an operational budget standpoint (i.e., salaries, scholarships, recruiting funds, equipment, uniforms, etc.) I think the MBB dollars reflect appropriate commitment in comparison to our league partners.

This past summer the Hilltop gym practice facility got some love and the MBB locker room area was renovated.  That sort of thing must continue.   And these difference makers would be outside the BB operational budget like, for instance,

>>  more and better promotion (perhaps a FT promotions expert not just an SID person; perhaps a weekly 30 minute coach's show instead of the 9 minute game preview),
>>  a new sound system,
>>  improved parking as we are discussing in another string,
>>  and an expansion and renovation of the ARC; by that I mean.....
       o   adding expanded training facilities that are sorely stretched and have been for years,
       o   more locker space for all sports to alleviate over-crowding
       o   and with that a quality makeover of the seating, concessions and rest rooms in the arena itself to make it into an attractive, 5,500-6,000 capacity  D-I college arena instead of the HS gym it now resembles (based on watching HS highlight videos of Indiana recruits and seeing the gyms they play in -- some of them are.... like wow!).

But that's a heck of a lot to ask for -- unless the university decides to follow the successful Gonzaga model.

[usc4valpo]

I agree with many of the comments above.

1. Get in the MVC when the opportunity arises. It is a better conference overall than the Horizon - LeCrone's leadership is lacking. Do not over analyze the situation.
2. Regarding football at Valpo, stay in the Pioneer and ensure that it is self sufficient financially. Define the math equation on the cost of football, which includes a percentage of tuition the players contribute to play. there is no way in the future that a Valpo should join the MVC for football. The football program should have no impact on joining the MVC.
3. Once joining the MVC, incremental upgrades to facilities are required.
4. attendance must increase to 4000 plus per game and students need to get better engaged. Like other universities - Greek activities should generally align with the games, not the other way around - do you think Gonzaga basketball would have a drop in attendance for a game because of Rush?

[vu72]

So I understand the frustration yet there seems to be one fact that isn't discussed much.  Let's take a look at Gonzaga and throw in Creighton (another successful mid-major).  Here is what I found out:

Spokane Washington population:  aprx. 220,000 (second largest in Washington)  other activities in the area:  minor leagues sports in baseball and indoor football. Division 1 colleges in Washington: 5

Omaha Nebraska population:  aprx. 450,000 (largest in Nebraska) other activities in the area:  minor league baseball, hokey and soccer.  Division 1 colleges in Nebraska:  2

Valparaiso Indiana population: aprx. 35,000  other activities in the area:  Chicago   Division 1 colleges in Indiana:  10

We have a significant disadvantage when comparing our facilities and attendance to schools like Gonzaga, Creighton or even Butler.  They draw from places with either much larger local populations or areas where they are "the only game in town", or both .  Not so much for Valpo.  Facts are sometimes painful.   

[bbtds]

What you are saying is that Heckler and the B of T are satisfied with remaining on the upper edge of mediocrity despite paying lip service to lofty aspirations.   

Yes, exactly. They want the lofty aspirations without committing the funds because that labels the school as "athletics driven." For some of them it might go back to their grade school days when they weren't picked for the playground teams. Who really knows where it comes from but this B of T just doesn't see athletics as a way of accomplishing the university goals and have solidly rejected that way of doing business. That is why the Helges gave large sums for the Chapel and nothing for athletics. That is why Duesenberg gave the money for the Welcome Center but nothing for athletics. (There, now I've gone and named names)

[bbtds]

We have a significant disadvantage when comparing our facilities and attendance to schools like Gonzaga, Creighton or even Butler.  They draw from places with either much larger local populations or areas where they are "the only game in town", or both .  Not so much for Valpo.  Facts are sometimes painful. 

Now compare Valpo to Wake Forest or Davidson.

[vu72]

What you are saying is that Heckler and the B of T are satisfied with remaining on the upper edge of mediocrity despite paying lip service to lofty aspirations.   

Yes, exactly. They want the lofty aspirations without committing the funds because that labels the school as "athletics driven." For some of them it might go back to their grade school days when they weren't picked for the playground teams. Who really knows where it comes from but this B of T just doesn't see athletics as a way of accomplishing the university goals and have solidly rejected that way of doing business. That is why the Helges gave large sums for the Chapel and nothing for athletics. That is why Duesenberg gave the money for the Welcome Center but nothing for athletics. (There, now I've gone and named names)

Your rant may have been stretched a little here.  The Helges are both ordained pastors and met while doing undergrad work at the chapel.  Somehow I think it holds a special place in their hearts as it does for many of us.

[VULB#62]

As a contrast to the small endeavors we are talking about to improve both the athletic department but also ensure that the university has the opportunity to leverage that to meet strategic objectives, I give you the dark side: the University of Central Florida announcing that as part of  A $25 million expansion of athletic facilities, they are building an outdoor meandering river pool for students that would put many Las Vegas hotel complexes to shame.  The article and the rationale forced me to go in the bathroom and gag.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/one-schools-formula-for-athletic-success-build-a-lazy-river-and-hope-the-recruits-will-come/2017/03/31/e1b7f5c8-1568-11e7-833c-503e1f6394c9_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_lazyriver-1115am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.a803f6f868b1

Here is the UCF promotional video:

https://ucfknights.exposure.co/our-vision

[covufan]

As a contrast to the small endeavors we are talking about to improve both the athletic department but also ensure that the university has the opportunity to leverage that to meet strategic objectives, I give you the dark side: the University of Central Florida announcing that as part of  A $25 million expansion of athletic facilities, they are building an outdoor meandering river pool for students that would put many Las Vegas hotel complexes to shame.  The article and the rationale forced me to go in the bathroom and gag.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/one-schools-formula-for-athletic-success-build-a-lazy-river-and-hope-the-recruits-will-come/2017/03/31/e1b7f5c8-1568-11e7-833c-503e1f6394c9_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_lazyriver-1115am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.a803f6f868b1

Here is the UCF promotional video:

https://ucfknights.exposure.co/our-vision

 

[vu72]

As a contrast to the small endeavors we are talking about to improve both the athletic department but also ensure that the university has the opportunity to leverage that to meet strategic objectives, I give you the dark side: the University of Central Florida announcing that as part of  A $25 million expansion of athletic facilities, they are building an outdoor meandering river pool for students that would put many Las Vegas hotel complexes to shame.  The article and the rationale forced me to go in the bathroom and gag.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/one-schools-formula-for-athletic-success-build-a-lazy-river-and-hope-the-recruits-will-come/2017/03/31/e1b7f5c8-1568-11e7-833c-503e1f6394c9_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_lazyriver-1115am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.a803f6f868b1

Here is the UCF promotional video:

https://ucfknights.exposure.co/our-vision

 

uh, Central Florida has 64,300 students.  That's $388.80 per student.  Valpo with 4500 students equates to 1,749,611.  I'm pretty sure we spent more than that on the track and lighting for Brown Field.

[bbtds]

Your rant may have been stretched a little here.  The Helges are both ordained pastors and met while doing undergrad work at the chapel.  Somehow I think it holds a special place in their hearts as it does for many of us.

It's not about where they gave their money it's about where they didn't give their money. You obviously think that someone with the wealth of the Helges should be giving money to Valpo for athletic facilities. Since there is no one with that wealth who finds athletics important enough to give money to then we need to find someone, like the Schrages, to give that money. There are only so many connected with Valpo that have that kind of money, the Christophers, the Helges, the Duesenbergs, etc. Why can't they give money for athletic facilities? We find the need vitally important, do we not?

[a3uge]

Your rant may have been stretched a little here.  The Helges are both ordained pastors and met while doing undergrad work at the chapel.  Somehow I think it holds a special place in their hearts as it does for many of us.

It's not about where they gave their money it's about where they didn't give their money. You obviously think that someone with the wealth of the Helges should be giving money to Valpo for athletic facilities. Since there is no one with that wealth who finds athletics important enough to give money to then we need to find someone, like the Schrages, to give that money. There are only so many connected with Valpo that have that kind of money, the Christophers, the Helges, the Duesenbergs, etc. Why can't they give money for athletic facilities? We find the need vitally important, do we not?

I don't think you can blame the university for them not being huge sports fans.

[usc4valpo]

In all fairness, Gonzaga University was also very fortunate for their success. I don't think this tour around was planned from the beginning.

Regarding location, we are less than Ann hour from Chicago and could be considered as a suburb. Valpo can tap into talent in NW Indiana and Illinois..

[VULB#62]

Your rant may have been stretched a little here.  The Helges are both ordained pastors and met while doing undergrad work at the chapel.  Somehow I think it holds a special place in their hearts as it does for many of us.

It's not about where they gave their money it's about where they didn't give their money. You obviously think that someone with the wealth of the Helges should be giving money to Valpo for athletic facilities. Since there is no one with that wealth who finds athletics important enough to give money to then we need to find someone, like the Schrages, to give that money. There are only so many connected with Valpo that have that kind of money, the Christophers, the Helges, the Duesenbergs, etc. Why can't they give money for athletic facilities? We find the need vitally important, do we not?

I don't think you can blame the university for them not being huge sports fans.

No, but you might blame university leadership in not making a strong enough case to these donors that investing in athletics is investing in the university and ensures that it meets its stated aspirations. 

[VULB#62]

Her's yet another article on Gonzaga, but with a different twist...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2017/03/31/teams-ask-how-can-we-become-the-next-gonzaga/99877592/

The headline asks "How....." and also answers the question with "You can't."  Kampe is quoted in the article, BTW.

[VULB#62]

As a contrast to the small endeavors we are talking about to improve both the athletic department but also ensure that the university has the opportunity to leverage that to meet strategic objectives, I give you the dark side: the University of Central Florida announcing that as part of  A $25 million expansion of athletic facilities, they are building an outdoor meandering river pool for students that would put many Las Vegas hotel complexes to shame.  The article and the rationale forced me to go in the bathroom and gag.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/one-schools-formula-for-athletic-success-build-a-lazy-river-and-hope-the-recruits-will-come/2017/03/31/e1b7f5c8-1568-11e7-833c-503e1f6394c9_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_lazyriver-1115am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.a803f6f868b1

Here is the UCF promotional video:

https://ucfknights.exposure.co/our-vision

 

uh, Central Florida has 64,300 students.  That's $388.80 per student.  Valpo with 4500 students equates to 1,749,611.  I'm pretty sure we spent more than that on the track and lighting for Brown Field.

I think you may have missed my point 72.  My point was the disgusting (IMO) lengths by which some large universities go to try break into the "Big Time" so they can (1) earn more money so that they can then (2) spend even more.  My post was not meant to be an "us vs. them" comparison, it's purely and simply a one-way condemnation of "them" with the implication that we should be glad we are not a "them."

In that article, BTW, it cites what each of the 64,300 students pays as a part of their tuition to support UCF sports, whether they care or not: "In 2016, records show, UCF athletics needed $22.4 million in student fees to cover its $59.4 million in spending. UCF's 64,000-plus students each chip in $14.32 per credit hour to athletics. For a UCF undergraduate taking a full 12-credit-hour courseload, the athletics fee comes to about $172 per semester, or $344 for the year."

I couldn't find (I admit I didn't look very hard) a dollar for dollar breakdown of Valpo's fees that support specifically the athletic department, but from the Valpo Web Site: The general fees for an undergrad are a total of $1210/year.

General Fee Components
The general fee is used to cover the following expenses:

Student Senate
I.D. Cards
Athletics
Rec Sports
Health Services
Union Services
Insurance-Health & Acc
Technology
Fitness Center
Cultural/General Events