VCU Ram Report

E D M C L A U G H L I N Nearly everyone is familiar with Walt Disney. He spun Mickey Mouse to life with the point of his pen and built an entertainment empire. Very few people know about Roy Disney, Walt's brother and co-founder. Walt provided the crea ve genius at the company, but Roy kept the books and made sure the company stayed financially viable. When Walt died in 1966, Roy saw to it that Walt Disney World came to frui on. The Disney Company thrived both because of Walt's colorful visions and Roy's prudent and strategic busi- ness decisions. In a way, our administra on has achieved success because of prudent business strategy. Like Roy Disney, we want to make sound decisions, financially and otherwise, to allow the crea ve genius of our student- athletes and coaches to flourish. When I first arrived, we made financial stability and responsibility a focus, which allowed us to bal- ance our budget for the first me in seven years. We con nue to balance the budget every year, while adding benefits to the student-athlete expe- rience and genera ng revenue from more donors who want to help. Maintaining financial stability has many challenges. Newly passed NCAA legisla on will now permit schools to provide addi onal funds to cover the full cost of a endance for student-athletes on scholarship. This legisla on is welcome news to student-athletes and VCU Athle cs supports it fully. Moving forward, we are commi ed to providing the full cost of a endance to the student- athletes in all 17 of our athle c programs. That financial decision will require addi onal fundraising efforts and con nued vigilance in the way we manage our finances. VCU Athle cs is well-posi oned for changes in NCAA governance and the increased emphasis on student- athlete welfare. The system of fiscal responsibility that we established will help us to provide the benefits that the Power Five conferences do and remain na onally-elite in compe - on. Our emphasis on fiscal responsibility is also at the heart of our decision to move the deadline for annual Ram Athle c Fund dona ons to May 15. This change will allow us to properly budget for the upcoming academic year and provides us with greater op- portunity to assess our future needs. VCU student-athletes and coaches are rich in talent and poten al. Our administrators carefully monitor our business and work hard to generate addi onal resources so the Rams can realize that poten al on the field, in the classroom and in the community. Go Rams! Rams fans, "It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are." – Roy Disney A L E T T E R F R O M :

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