The Saluki basketball team's role in the Sweet Sixteen reaches much farther than realizing the pipe dreams of local sports fans and SIU students. The men's passion on the court and the determination it took to meet goals no one believed they could have made the Salukis a household name.
Autographed Saluki T-shirts flew off Ebay as local bookstores continue to watch maroon stock disappear from shelves. CNN, ESPN and the New York Times were just a few major media outlets that recognized the amazing "underdawg" rise to glory.
The Daily Egyptian has received several letters from proud alumni, some of whom are wearing their SIU threads to work for the first time. Thousands cheered the Salukis off to the Big Dance, and hundreds applauded upon their return, even though they lost. This is because everyone in the community understands something about the Salukis' winning streak: it showed the nation this University's pride, skill and talent - traits no one had bothered to notice for a long time.
We all know that Southern's national attention in the past has been largely negative. We have been suffering from an image problem steeped in years of unsavory coverage. The team's wild ride this season did more to fix that image than all the marketing teams in the world could have.
In the last few years, we have watched the enrollment to our beloved University drop farther and farther down, along with our spirits. We are now facing a budget hole more than $7 million deep. However, according to SIU President James Walker, there has been a little flurry in the Admissions Office the past few weeks. All of sudden, people not only know we are here, they want a piece of what we've got.
"For a lot of places, sports become the front porch. It's the first thing people see and know about," Walker told a recent gathering of Daily Egyptian editorial board members. "If we can get them to the front porch, maybe we can get them in the house."
When prospective students walk into the house, they will be greeted with some of the top programs in the nation, such as aviation, automotive technologies and radio-television. We as students know that within each and every field at SIU, one can find stellar professors, life-changing lessons and as fine an education as anyone could want. It is too bad that this has been the great secret of this largely ignored, struggling University.
Now the secret is starting to get out. The Salukis have put this University back on the map for something other than Halloween (i.e. the ability to drink a lot and destroy our own town).
The Daily Egyptian formally salutes the team members who did not just play some real ball, but who helped this University in ways they can never imagine. Unfortunately, this is not enough to bandage the deep wounds caused by years of a negative image, tempered during this University's Great Depression.
Now that everyone is asking all of you alumni about SIUC, tell them what a great place this is to send their children. Tell them about our nationally competitive programs and affordable price. Tell them about all of your great professors, and yes, too, about the parties.
But we here at SIUC need more than lip service. Even some of our most acclaimed programs like automotive technology are housed in dilapidated facilities. As University administrators seek to curb the tide of budgetary woe, Walker says projects such as new automotive facilities have to wait for at least two years.
Walker realizes that recoup funds will not be handed to him from the state, so the University is looking to federal funds and private donors.
This season's Saluki dream team proved that this institution is worthy of not only alumni pride, but their financial support as well. We encourage alumni, community members and corporate sponsors to take a hard look at us scrappy Salukis and help us to make the Dawghouse of our dreams the reality that we deserve.
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
