FAYETTEVILLE – The Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas today passed a resolution directing UA System President Jay B. Silveria to lead a review of the state of competitiveness of Razorback Athletics, including steps to improve the resources available to the football program.
Proposed by Trustee Ashley Caldwell and seconded by Trustee Steve Cox, the resolution was unanimously adopted by the Board.
“Like all passionate Razorback fans, the Board of Trustees is united in the goal to ensure the competitiveness of all Razorback sports and specifically to restore the rich tradition of Razorback football,” said Randy Lawson, chairman of the Board. “We expect this review to be comprehensive, and we trust President Silveria to lead this effort to identify how we can improve our position, including identifying the necessary resources and empowering key people to be successful.”
The resolution was proposed and adopted at the end of the regular meeting of the Board at the Don Tyson Center for Agriculture today. Several trustees spoke in favor of the resolution when it was presented.
“When you look at how important football is in terms of finances to an athletic department, I think we need to take a hard look at it, and that’s what this motion is all about,” said Trustee Ed Fryar.
“When you look at the great cooperation that UAF, the (UA) system office and UAMS have exhibited as an example of sitting down and trying to come up with new approaches to old problems, I’m actually very encouraged that there will be ways both internally and externally that we could advance this cause and do that in a reasonably short period of time,” said Trustee Scott Ford.
“It’s going to take a collective effort to put the university in a position where we can have the level of success that our fans so desperately want,” said Trustee Kevin Crass. “It’s a challenge that’s daunting, but I think we have the people and the fans to meet the challenge. We all should rally around the cause here to solve this problem. I appreciate the resolution and the effort that is reflected, and hope that we’ll all work together to accomplish what it’s meant to accomplish.”
“Failure is not an option,” Cox said. This has to succeed and I believe it will.”