In Reply to: UCLA's overall operating budget for 2024/25 was $12.8 BILLION... posted by Born2BBruin on January 07, 2026 at 09:48:20
I swear, I'm not trying to follow you around. You've been making good posts.
I'll add - the academic mission also benefits from outside partnerships. As silly as it may be, the path to those outside partnerships is made more effective if the most high profile element of a university's identity (big time sports), embodies excellence, not cutting corners and happy-just-to-be-there.
And, I would guess that striving for excellence in sports and making support of sports teams a part of student culture is good for the students, too. We went skiing out of state over the holiday. In the lodge we shared a table with a nice young adult lady. She made a point of saying she was there on a trip with her "sc friends" who are her travel buddies. She was minority from a middle of the country state. I point this out b/c if she was from OC, of course she's traveling w/ her sc friends. Later, my wife said "why doesn't one ever meet people travelling with "their UCLA friends"? I don't think UCLA pushes the school pride propaganda like other schools do. Is it silly? Yes. Is it good for the students? Probably. It gives everyone in the school something in common. School pride. No matter who you are, no matter how much of an outsider, that's one thing you can bond over.
Am I reaching like crazy to say that the University as a whole should invest general funds into football and basketball because I like football and basketball? Absolutely. But, I think my points are on point.