By Jackie Todd, Office of University Relations
Skip Sauer made the trip that most of us wish we had made. He saw the national championship game in Tampa…up close. Sitting in seats that bordered the end zone where Clemson’s final heart–stopping play was made, Sauer watched the crowd “go nuts” as the Tigers scored the epic winning touchdown.
While it’s no secret that securing a national championship tremendously benefits a university’s athletics program, Sauer believes that the title can benefit the university in other ways. Sauer, a professor and researcher in the John E. Walker Department of Economics in Clemson’s College of Business, believes that athletics programs, in general, raise the visibility of a university. A successful team, he says, raises it even more.
“A winning team adds fuel to the engine of a university,” he said. “A championship win is like adding rocket fuel.”
Other benefits, noted Sauer, include solidifying relationships with university alumni, increased revenues and higher enrollments.
“Programs that go on deep runs like the NCAA basketball tournament or a great football season generally enjoy a significant increase in applications, somewhere between five and 15 percent,” explained Sauer. “We have already felt some of that from last year, and this year, the championship win will take it up another level.”
Robert Barkley, who also made the trip to Tampa, agrees that the increased visibility from a successful athletics program is good for the university.
“The football excitement will lead to more student interest in Clemson, and more interest leads to more applications,” said Barkley, Clemson’s director of admissions. “But enrollment is limited, and we are committed to giving equitable consideration to all applicants in the process. So the competition to gain admission to Clemson will continue to rise.”
Christine Green sees a championship win as a golden marketing opportunity for the university. As an academic marketing strategist, Green supports Barkley’s department and can also support the correlation of athletics and increased applications with numbers.
“Playing for a national championship and being on a national stage allows us to raise awareness about Clemson on a broad level,” she said. “As of Jan. 6, applications were up 11 percent from last year. It is already the largest applicant pool in university history. Note that the application deadline is May 1, so there will be more applications coming in. After the championship win, we can expect a lot more due to our national exposure. But it’s also not just about this year. National exposure like this helps get Clemson on the radar for many students who are just starting their college search as well.”
Green also noted that the additional visibility achieved from a championship title allows Clemson to market its strong academics, research and student opportunities on a national platform.
That’s good news to Tanju Karanfil. Instead of traveling to Tampa, Clemson’s vice president for research and his family watched the entire game from their home and stayed up even later to watch post game-interviews. Karanfil thinks the win will help the university spotlight its research and other points of pride.
“The win is another testament to the transformation occurring at Clemson to become a national premier university — Carnegie R1 ranking, U.S.News and World Report top 25 public university and National Football Champions – while creating a strong, unified atmosphere across the university. Goals are accomplishable with motivation, commitment, resilience and hard work in everything we do,” he said. “Every member of the Clemson Family should be very proud because it takes the whole university to attain such an outstanding accomplishment.”
Like Karanfil, Mary Beth Kurz believes that a win unites the Clemson Family and offers opportunities for collaboration. Kurz, an associate professor in the department of industrial engineering and the Faculty Senate president, watched the game from home with her husband and four children.
“In a community like Clemson, this kind of experience can help bring together students, faculty and staff, enhancing all of our experiences,” she reflected. “And it helps provide a discussion topic that helps increase the interpersonal bonds between faculty here and people with whom we engage beyond the campus. Already today, I’ve had conference calls with faculty at other institutions and collaborators in industry, and all of them watched the game and came away with a great impression of multiple dimensions of our institution.”
Josh Brown is very interested in presenting great impressions to potential faculty and staff. Brown, who works as Clemson’s talent acquisition manager, watched the game with his wife from the 25-yard line. He heard the stories about the university’s 1981 championship and waited his entire life to experience the intense excitement, awe and pride that a national win can bring.
It didn’t disappoint. He’s still pinching himself to make sure it’s real.
Brown said that a national championship win and its associated publicity gains the attention of potential university employees.
“There has been a substantial uptick in the number of applicants Clemson receives as our team has played in and won these types of games on the big stage,” he said. “It can definitely be tied to a multitude of factors, but it certainly plays a part.”
Mark Land is fairly new to the university. Land saw firsthand the uniqueness that is Clemson and how a win can promote excitement, pride, sportsmanship and unity.
“On a personal level, it was exciting to be in the middle of so many passionate Clemson fans who have waited a long time for this moment. Their joy, and the warmth they displayed toward one another and the team, gives true meaning to the term ‘Clemson Family.’
While he is new to Clemson, Land, the vice president for University Relations, is not new to identifying strong opportunities and using them to tell the story of an institution.
“Our goal is to leverage that opportunity to broadly share the great Clemson story so as many people as possible can see what we already know around here: that Clemson is one of the very best universities – and university communities – in the country.”
Staff Senate President-elect Leigh Dodson echoed many of the benefits that others offered.
“I think the win will provide Clemson with lots of visibility that will increase student applications, donor gifts and external grant funding,” she said. “We are already on a plan to grow student enrollment which increases funds for the university.”
Dodson, her husband, Joe, and their dog, Pee Wee (who, incidentally, predicted a Clemson win well before the Clearwater Marina Aquarium’s Nicholas the Dolphin selected his pick) watched the game at home. Dodson said that the winning feeling, pride and connectedness experienced during the game will continue to be prevalent on campus.
“The excitement of the national championship and Dabo’s never-ending enthusiasm is contagious across Clemson,” she said. “We just can’t help but be proud of him and our football team.”
Leland “Corky” Miller was wearing two hats at the game. Miller, who was recently named Clemson University Police Department interim chief, finished up his former role — protecting and transporting President Jim Clements — in the best possible way. His last assignment was to accompany the president to the championship game. He sat in the president’s box and ran onto the field with Clements at the conclusion of the game.
While an athletic championship win offers non-athletic benefits like increased applications, economic impacts, marketing and collaboration opportunities, Miller believes that the win does the most important thing of all. It teaches us life lessons.
“Having traveled with this team and seeing the ups and downs for the past two years, I can say not only did they win the national championship but they did it the right way, with dedication, integrity, hard work and love for one another,” said Miller. “This was apparent from the administration to the coaches and players to the guys who cleaned up. I was fortunate to have seen the ‘81 Tigers win the national championship 35 years ago and now Clemson has done it again. It’s good to be a Tiger.”
Related: President Clements gives kudos to faculty and staff in campus message.
