Where is the athletic department financially, given the difficult economic times?
DW: We actually came through the recession really well. We’ve been under budget every year, and starting this year the inherent deficit we had has been removed. As long as people understand that there is a subsidy or investment that the university gives to athletics, I think we’ve done real well. We probably watch pennies a lot more than other places. There are things that we do that other schools don’t do. For example, it is very rare that a coach will reward a scholarship to an existing player in December. If we have a kid that graduates in December, we don’t give another kid a scholarship in the spring. We don’t do that because that is money that we can then pay to use for the cost of summer school. CN: How much has the economy affected Vanderbilt’s facility plan? DW: All of what is needed for the facility plan has to be raised money. While we’ve been able to continue to get pledges, when we set that plan we were expecting that we would get money faster, but the recession has slowed
