Been wondering what happened to Keith Stone from the Power 2 Change Foundation since the withdrawal of funds to the Student Athlete Performance Center (aka the new football building)? I have. It seemed so strange to go from a huge gift to nothing. Well, it appears he got some of the same people together and started a new fund to support EMU teaching and scholarship. The fund can be found here: https://www.gameabove.com/#our-mission

The press release is below. Note that several prominent boosters are involved including TJ Lang.

Eastern Michigan University alumni group launches GameAbove, Announces Initial $3.5 Million Gift to Support Faculty, Students

YPSILANTI (November 11, 2019) – GameAbove, a group of dedicated Eastern Michigan University alumni with various academic and professional backgrounds, today announced its initial $3.5 million gift to the University to support faculty development as well as the academic and program needs of current and future students.

The lump-sum cash gift provides the platform for two new initiatives: “GameAbove, Faculty First” and “Students Matter Most.” GameAbove is designating $2 million to support all levels of Eastern Michigan University faculty (assistant, associate and full professors) across all five academic colleges (Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering and Technology; and, Health and Human Services) and the University Library by providing additional resources for faculty development and retention. The additional $1.5 million is focused on students.

“It is our intent to help the University support faculty development and to offer a clear focus on research, entrepreneurship, creative work and innovation when it comes to education and investment in our faculty and students alike,” said Denis Wolcott, spokesperson for GameAbove. “We have a long-range vision to sustain and enhance the high-achieving uniqueness that is EMU.”

GameAbove is a team of passionate Eastern Michigan University alumni who desire to make a difference for the University. The team includes a diverse group from all ages and backgrounds including former EMU student-athletes, current entrepreneurs and successful businesspeople, and Hall of Famers and select EMU coaches.

“Eastern’s faculty had a significant positive impact on all GameAbove founders and advisory members. Our goal is to give back in many ways, from supporting the incredible and respected faculty at Eastern, enhancing the learning experience and contributing to the University’s next era of innovation,” Wolcott said.

GameAbove will be focused on supporting and funding other key EMU programs and initiatives including enhancing athletic programs, creating state-of-the-art student facilities, and providing entrepreneurial and innovation support for students. GameAbove is dedicated toward ongoing gifting efforts and will continue to evaluate opportunities to further enhance EMU’s overall excellence.

“Eastern Michigan University is very grateful both for this initial and substantial gift as well as the long-range vision from GameAbove to support the university in many innovative ways,” said Provost Rhonda Longworth. “We look forward to a very collaborative effort from these grateful alumni.”

The “GameAbove, Faculty First” initiative will support a broad range of activities, including but not limited to: Reassigned time from teaching for scholarly, creative, and innovative endeavors; conference presentations; travel; hiring of research assistants; purchase of special equipment or supplies for teaching, scholarly, research, creative, or innovative activities; development of a grant proposal for external funding; and, similar or related academic activities.

The “Students Matter Most” initiative will focus on providing financial resources for learning clubs, intramural sports, student government and student organization priorities, as well as solutions for student homelessness and housing insecurity, among other near-term needs.

Under gift parameters provided by GameAbove, the Office of the Provost in the Division of Academic and Student Affairs will administer the faculty and student programs.

Something seems fishy here. Hope its not.

Anything thats supports the mission of the university is appreciated

(11-11-2019 01:19 PM)fanfrompowellspub Wrote:  Something seems fishy here. Hope its not.

Agreed. The group just forms out of thin air and pledges huge sums of money. TJ is very active on twitter but hasn't mentioned this at all.

Yes, I think this is a great thing. It can be difficult to get funding for the items listed in both funds, so I'm glad this will in-fill.

(11-11-2019 01:42 PM)eastcoasteagle Wrote:  

(11-11-2019 01:19 PM)fanfrompowellspub Wrote:  Something seems fishy here. Hope its not.

Agreed. The group just forms out of thin air and pledges huge sums of money. TJ is very active on twitter but hasn't mentioned this at all.

The stated intent of the fund is so broad that it seems to be easy pickings for misspending.

I find this statement on their website interesting: "The GameAbove family of organizations will also help improve the higher education experience by exploring and supporting the use of innovative financial models to sustain universities, creative giving within the community, enhancing the campus environment, elevating athletics and promoting pioneering academic programs."

While most of their focus seems to be on EMU, this sounds like they are leaving the door open to work with other universities and community organizations. They are using a ".com" website as opposed to a ".org", so at this point it doesn't appear that they have organized as a 501©3 organization nor a private foundation.

The "gift" terms are somewhat unclear as to whether they plan to gift the funds outright to the school for the school to designate, or retain the funds, select the recipients, and just require that disbursements be made through the Provost's office. They do reference "innovative funding models", so that leads one to beleive this may not be traditional philanthropy to the university/foundation.

(11-12-2019 09:41 PM)cidbearit Wrote:  I find this statement on their website interesting: "The GameAbove family of organizations will also help improve the higher education experience by exploring and supporting the use of innovative financial models to sustain universities, creative giving within the community, enhancing the campus environment, elevating athletics and promoting pioneering academic programs."

While most of their focus seems to be on EMU, this sounds like they are leaving the door open to work with other universities and community organizations. They are using a ".com" website as opposed to a ".org", so at this point it doesn't appear that they have organized as a 501©3 organization nor a private foundation.

The "gift" terms are somewhat unclear as to whether they plan to gift the funds outright to the school for the school to designate, or retain the funds, select the recipients, and just require that disbursements be made through the Provost's office. They do reference "innovative funding models", so that leads one to beleive this may not be traditional philanthropy to the university/foundation.

This is MY wild speculation:

Stone wanted to help EMU and decided to do it this way rather than outrighting the SAPC monies and having the building named after him.

The university has put up (borrowed) the money for SAPC and I suspect that these new funds will 'co-mingle' with other university funds to run the missions of the university.

Kind of a way to replenish funds which otherwise would have been spent more directly on the education mission of the school but were spent on the SAPC building. Think of fungible funds.

Here is the definition of fungible:

Definition of fungible (Entry 1 of 2)
1: being something (such as money or a commodity) of such a nature that one part or quantity may be replaced by another equal part or quantity in paying a debt or settling an account

An example of people's real lives:

A person borrows money from his or her 401K account to put down on a house and then later pays that money back. This is what I did. I borrowed from my retirement account and then paid the money back to my retirement account.

(11-13-2019 05:42 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(11-12-2019 09:41 PM)cidbearit Wrote:  I find this statement on their website interesting: "The GameAbove family of organizations will also help improve the higher education experience by exploring and supporting the use of innovative financial models to sustain universities, creative giving within the community, enhancing the campus environment, elevating athletics and promoting pioneering academic programs."

While most of their focus seems to be on EMU, this sounds like they are leaving the door open to work with other universities and community organizations. They are using a ".com" website as opposed to a ".org", so at this point it doesn't appear that they have organized as a 501©3 organization nor a private foundation.

The "gift" terms are somewhat unclear as to whether they plan to gift the funds outright to the school for the school to designate, or retain the funds, select the recipients, and just require that disbursements be made through the Provost's office. They do reference "innovative funding models", so that leads one to beleive this may not be traditional philanthropy to the university/foundation.

This is MY wild speculation:

Stone wanted to help EMU and decided to do it this way rather than outrighting the SAPC monies and having the building named after him.

The university has put up (borrowed) the money for SAPC and I suspect that these new funds will 'co-mingle' with other university funds to run the missions of the university.

Kind of a way to replenish funds which otherwise would have been spent more directly on the education mission of the school but were spent on the SAPC building. Think of fungible funds.

Here is the definition of fungible:

Definition of fungible (Entry 1 of 2)
1: being something (such as money or a commodity) of such a nature that one part or quantity may be replaced by another equal part or quantity in paying a debt or settling an account

An example of people's real lives:

A person borrows money from his or her 401K account to put down on a house and then later pays that money back. This is what I did. I borrowed from my retirement account and then paid the money back to my retirement account.

Basically agree. With no inside knowledge: I think Stone wanted to help but did want the current athletic admin control the money or get credit for the fund-raising.
This way, after tuition dollars are used to support the athletic dept then Stone's money will be used to backfill that hole (i.e. take place of the 'missing' tuition dollars).

(11-13-2019 05:46 PM)masttg Wrote:  

(11-13-2019 05:42 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(11-12-2019 09:41 PM)cidbearit Wrote:  I find this statement on their website interesting: "The GameAbove family of organizations will also help improve the higher education experience by exploring and supporting the use of innovative financial models to sustain universities, creative giving within the community, enhancing the campus environment, elevating athletics and promoting pioneering academic programs."

While most of their focus seems to be on EMU, this sounds like they are leaving the door open to work with other universities and community organizations. They are using a ".com" website as opposed to a ".org", so at this point it doesn't appear that they have organized as a 501©3 organization nor a private foundation.

The "gift" terms are somewhat unclear as to whether they plan to gift the funds outright to the school for the school to designate, or retain the funds, select the recipients, and just require that disbursements be made through the Provost's office. They do reference "innovative funding models", so that leads one to beleive this may not be traditional philanthropy to the university/foundation.

This is MY wild speculation:

Stone wanted to help EMU and decided to do it this way rather than outrighting the SAPC monies and having the building named after him.

The university has put up (borrowed) the money for SAPC and I suspect that these new funds will 'co-mingle' with other university funds to run the missions of the university.

Kind of a way to replenish funds which otherwise would have been spent more directly on the education mission of the school but were spent on the SAPC building. Think of fungible funds.

Here is the definition of fungible:

Definition of fungible (Entry 1 of 2)
1: being something (such as money or a commodity) of such a nature that one part or quantity may be replaced by another equal part or quantity in paying a debt or settling an account

An example of people's real lives:

A person borrows money from his or her 401K account to put down on a house and then later pays that money back. This is what I did. I borrowed from my retirement account and then paid the money back to my retirement account.

Basically agree. With no inside knowledge: I think Stone wanted to help but did want the current athletic admin control the money or get credit for the fund-raising.
This way, after tuition dollars are used to support the athletic dept then Stone's money will be used to backfill that hole (i.e. take place of the 'missing' tuition dollars).

i can see things like earmarking the gift for say operation of the RecIM (or something similar or student health, etc).

The U then says we'll take the savings in that line item and then transfers the necessary funds to cover the debt service on the bonds issued to pay for the the SAPC (and other building projects).

I'm speculating but also maybe the U per the bond issue wants the funds for the bond debt service to come from general funds and not come from athletic fundraising.

BTW, some years ago I believe the athletic department borrowed money for new football turf. As I understand it, the U pledged money from future road game guarantee income to repay the monies.

I also wonder if this type of fund permits the university (or athletic department, if that is the focus of an item) to go 'off budget.'

E.g., Maybe Stone, et. al. want to set up funds for athletic endeavors. Say, extra money for coaches. Maybe do something with the track inside Rynearson. Maybe improvements to the baseball field. And so on.

Can they go to President Smith and the Board of Regents, "In consultation with the Athletic Director, we would like to fund x thousand dollars to improve (whatever). It would be privately funded but subject to approval by the athletic department and BOR. Restricted funds would be transferred to the university to pay for these particular items."

We've all heard of P5 type schools which give a highly successful coach a huge new contract with much of the money coming from athletic donors.

A school might have a "Maize and Blue" fund with millions of dollars in it and can be used for most any lawful endeavor. Pad coaches' salaries, build a SAPC, enlarge/modernize an athletic venue, etc.

(11-13-2019 05:46 PM)masttg Wrote:  

(11-13-2019 05:42 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(11-12-2019 09:41 PM)cidbearit Wrote:  I find this statement on their website interesting: "The GameAbove family of organizations will also help improve the higher education experience by exploring and supporting the use of innovative financial models to sustain universities, creative giving within the community, enhancing the campus environment, elevating athletics and promoting pioneering academic programs."

While most of their focus seems to be on EMU, this sounds like they are leaving the door open to work with other universities and community organizations. They are using a ".com" website as opposed to a ".org", so at this point it doesn't appear that they have organized as a 501©3 organization nor a private foundation.

The "gift" terms are somewhat unclear as to whether they plan to gift the funds outright to the school for the school to designate, or retain the funds, select the recipients, and just require that disbursements be made through the Provost's office. They do reference "innovative funding models", so that leads one to beleive this may not be traditional philanthropy to the university/foundation.

This is MY wild speculation:

Stone wanted to help EMU and decided to do it this way rather than outrighting the SAPC monies and having the building named after him.

The university has put up (borrowed) the money for SAPC and I suspect that these new funds will 'co-mingle' with other university funds to run the missions of the university.

Kind of a way to replenish funds which otherwise would have been spent more directly on the education mission of the school but were spent on the SAPC building. Think of fungible funds.

Here is the definition of fungible:

Definition of fungible (Entry 1 of 2)
1: being something (such as money or a commodity) of such a nature that one part or quantity may be replaced by another equal part or quantity in paying a debt or settling an account

An example of people's real lives:

A person borrows money from his or her 401K account to put down on a house and then later pays that money back. This is what I did. I borrowed from my retirement account and then paid the money back to my retirement account.

Basically agree. With no inside knowledge: I think Stone wanted to help but did want the current athletic admin control the money or get credit for the fund-raising.
This way, after tuition dollars are used to support the athletic dept then Stone's money will be used to backfill that hole (i.e. take place of the 'missing' tuition dollars).

That appears to be the most plausible explanation that I have heard to this point Masttg. I cringed at the SAPC opening ceremony when Regent Webb assured the gathering that the project was 100% donor funded, thinking at the time that statement was totally untrue due to the Power2Change donation renege. Perhaps Webb knew this donation was coming and in essence was a "back door" contribution to the SAPC.

If so, this prompts a referendum of our current Athletic Director's performance. Why did he lose the Power2Change foundation original commitment? Personally I like the guy, but does he possess the skill sets to be the AD we want at EMU?

(11-14-2019 07:43 PM)Jerry Weaver Wrote:  

(11-13-2019 05:46 PM)masttg Wrote:  

(11-13-2019 05:42 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(11-12-2019 09:41 PM)cidbearit Wrote:  I find this statement on their website interesting: "The GameAbove family of organizations will also help improve the higher education experience by exploring and supporting the use of innovative financial models to sustain universities, creative giving within the community, enhancing the campus environment, elevating athletics and promoting pioneering academic programs."

While most of their focus seems to be on EMU, this sounds like they are leaving the door open to work with other universities and community organizations. They are using a ".com" website as opposed to a ".org", so at this point it doesn't appear that they have organized as a 501©3 organization nor a private foundation.

The "gift" terms are somewhat unclear as to whether they plan to gift the funds outright to the school for the school to designate, or retain the funds, select the recipients, and just require that disbursements be made through the Provost's office. They do reference "innovative funding models", so that leads one to beleive this may not be traditional philanthropy to the university/foundation.

This is MY wild speculation:

Stone wanted to help EMU and decided to do it this way rather than outrighting the SAPC monies and having the building named after him.

The university has put up (borrowed) the money for SAPC and I suspect that these new funds will 'co-mingle' with other university funds to run the missions of the university.

Kind of a way to replenish funds which otherwise would have been spent more directly on the education mission of the school but were spent on the SAPC building. Think of fungible funds.

Here is the definition of fungible:

Definition of fungible (Entry 1 of 2)
1: being something (such as money or a commodity) of such a nature that one part or quantity may be replaced by another equal part or quantity in paying a debt or settling an account

An example of people's real lives:

A person borrows money from his or her 401K account to put down on a house and then later pays that money back. This is what I did. I borrowed from my retirement account and then paid the money back to my retirement account.

Basically agree. With no inside knowledge: I think Stone wanted to help but did want the current athletic admin control the money or get credit for the fund-raising.
This way, after tuition dollars are used to support the athletic dept then Stone's money will be used to backfill that hole (i.e. take place of the 'missing' tuition dollars).

That appears to be the most plausible explanation that I have heard to this point Masttg. I cringed at the SAPC opening ceremony when Regent Webb assured the gathering that the project was 100% donor funded, thinking at the time that statement was totally untrue due to the Power2Change donation renege. Perhaps Webb knew this donation was coming and in essence was a "back door" contribution to the SAPC.

If so, this prompts a referendum of our current Athletic Director's performance. Why did he lose the Power2Change foundation original commitment? Personally I like the guy, but does he possess the skill sets to be the AD we want at EMU?

Jerry, my guess is that Heather and Scott are very different ADs.

Scott is the 'old type' mostly a sports person.

Heather is the 'new type' of AD who knows sports, law, etc.

Understanding law, university funding and budgeting, etc. are big things in 21st century athletics.

It is no surprise to me that they elevated the position to VP level and expect the incumbent to be more than someone who hires and fires coaches, etc.