From The Desk of Your AD
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Hello Fellow Razorbacks!
I greet you today on what is the anniversary of a special day for me both personally and professionally. A year ago, December 6, 2017, I joined Chancellor Joseph Steinmetz on stage in the Fowler Family Baseball and Track Training Center for my introductory press conference as your vice chancellor and director of athletics.
Earlier that morning, before the press conference, I awoke for the first time in Northwest Arkansas. I had taken the job without visiting the University of Arkansas. What I knew and had heard about the University of Arkansas and the Home of the Razorbacks made me confident in accepting this extraordinary offer. A year later, I can confirm it was and continues to be a tremendous opportunity. I have made a lot of decisions in my career in intercollegiate athletics, coming to the University of Arkansas is clearly the best decision I have ever made.
I am honored to be a part of an athletics program that is one of the most successful in the nation, a university that is respected among its peers and a state that continues to shape the world. But most of all, my family and I are privileged to be among those who make up the Razorback Family. I am grateful to our student-athletes, our coaches and staff, our Razorback Foundation members, season ticket holders and fans throughout our state and beyond. Thank you for your support of the Razorbacks and for your warm welcome to Arkansas!
Moving Forward
Even as I pause momentarily to reflect on the past year, I am focused on and excited about the future of our program. In the past month, we have taken major steps toward new and renovated facilities for our national championship contending baseball and track and field programs.
Last month, our Board of Trustees approved us to move forward with the construction of a Baseball Performance Center, a renovation and expansion of the Randal Tyson Indoor Track Center and the construction of a Track and Field High Performance Center at John McDonnell Field. The Board also approved the selection of architect/engineer design and construction manager/general contractor teams for the facilities.
Thanks to the generosity of two of our state’s most influential families, we are already well on the way to funding two of these projects. The names of those benefactors are certainly familiar to Razorback fans.
The Willard and Pat Walker Family has been an integral part of the Razorback Baseball program for decades. In fact, it was a lead gift from the Walkers that changed plans for a renovated George Cole Field into the construction of a brand new Baum Stadium. More than 20 years later, the charitable foundation bearing their name has stepped forward once again to help provide Coach Dave Van Horn and our baseball student-athletes a facility that will rival any in the nation.
Similarly, the Tyson Family has become synonymous with Razorback Track and Field. When Arkansas needed a new indoor track and field facility, the Tyson Family stepped forward to build the best indoor facility in the country. Since its debut in 2000, the Randal Tyson Track Center has been home to 20 combined SEC and NCAA Championships. With its most recent signature gift for the renovation and expansion of the Randal Tyson Center, the Tyson Family has ensured that Fayetteville will remain the indoor track and field capital of the world.
Thanking the Razorback Nation
As we near the end of the fall semester, I want to take an opportunity to thank the Razorback Nation for its support at both Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium and War Memorial Stadium during the 2018 football season. Although our program has benefitted from a tremendous following throughout our history, we will never take the passionate support of our fans for granted. Your loyal support is greatly appreciated!
