Blue White Illustrated

Phil Knight at Oregon and T. Boone Pickens at Oklahoma State. There are big guns who are controlling the ac- tion. Does Penn State have that? Does it need that? Does it want that? Where does Penn State go to $nd that kind of support? The great thing here is that we have very, very generous "dream-makers" in our community and our alumni base and our fan base. In order to do what we need to do from a research stand- point and a facilities standpoint, phi- lanthropy is going to be the corner- stone, yes. We're going to need to sell tickets. We're going to need to do nonuniversity events, revenue-generating ideas with our capital assets. But it's going to hap- pen, because we're going to be success- ful. I believe we're going to be the best athletic program in the country by anybody's standards, by any metric. It's going to hinge on the generosity of Penn Staters who want that, who want that for our community, who want that for our students, for today's students and today's student-athletes and to- morrow's students and tomorrow's student-athletes. I believe there are very, very successful Penn Staters who have significant capacity who can move that along, give that momentum in an instant (snaps fingers). But, then, the great news is [that Penn State has] 600,000 living alumni. We've got the power of passion along with the power of numbers. We've got to make it clear what the need is, what the case is, and why it bene*ts Penn State and why they should participate, and I think we're starting to do that. Is it fair to say that this is a critical time, then? It is. We're coming o+ of the most challenging time in Penn State's history. I've said it before: I believe an institution of lesser character, of lesser values, of lesser resolve would not be where Penn "I believe an institution of lesser character, of lesser values, of lesser resolve would not be where Penn State is today coming o these diculties." S A N D Y B A R B O U R Steve Manuel

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