Last week, the University of Minnesota men’s golf team won the NCAA Division I championship.

This is the same golf team and golf program that had been told by university officials several months ago that it would be eliminated, along with men’s gymnastics and women’s golf, as a cost-cutting move.

The Minnesota athletic program has been in disarray for some time, and the department is facing large deficits. However, as soon as university officials announced their intention to discontinue the golf and gymnastics programs, a group of loyal fans and a number of state legislators asked school officials to delay the action until they could see whether they could raise sufficient funds to cover the cost of the programs that were headed to the athletic cemetery.

University officials agreed to the plan and said the golf and gymnastics programs could be continued for another year IF private money could be raised to cover the program costs.

Five weeks later, this past May, it was announced that $900,000 had been raised and about another $500,000 pledged to fund the minor sports programs that had been targeted for extinction. Plans call for an additional $1.8 million to be raised by February 2003 to guarantee the programs will be active through June 2005.

This private fund-raising effort obviously injected new enthusiasm into a number of University of Minnesota friends and alumni. It provided a challenge and a specific reason for raising additional money, and it is sure to have given all those involved in the project a great feeling to have met the goal in such a short time.

Now, with the men’s team winning the NCAA title, there should be even more enthusiasm and pride about what was accomplished.

It also points out the untapped fiscal potential that surrounds so many university campuses that can be reached if there is enthusiasm about the school’s leadership and a well-defined goal and purpose for raising the money.

The University of Minnesota situation should get the attention of those interested in the Kansas University athletic program, especially those who were so disappointed with the school’s decision to discontinue the men’s tennis and swimming programs.

As was the case at Minnesota, KU officials said they had to make the cuts because of serious financial shortfalls. However, in contrast to the Minnesota situation, KU officials wouldn’t entertain any proposal to delay the action to give supporters time to see whether funds could be raised among Jayhawk alumni and friends.

In fact, KU officials reportedly told individuals who were ready to raise private funds that they would receive no help from the university or the athletic department. Donations that were sent to the athletic department to help finance the swimming program were returned to the donors.

What a difference between the attitude of the Minnesota officials and those at KU. Only time will tell whether the KU attitude will have a lasting and dampening effect on the enthusiasm of many alumni and friends.

It is interesting to note there are other similarities between KU and Minnesota in that both schools are engaged in major capital campaigns. KU’s goal is $500 million, and Minnesota’s is pegged at $1.3 billion.

The athletic scene at Minnesota has been a mess for the past several years with NCAA investigations and penalties, academic fraud, serious financial deficits, the firing of a basketball coach and, at this time, no athletic director.

The university’s president, Mark Yudof, just announced he was accepting the chancellorship of the University of Texas system, which is a tremendous blow to the university, as well as all of Minnesota. Yudof had been the dean of the law school at the University of Texas before moving to Minnesota and, in recent years, there had been a terrific effort to get Yudof back to the Lone Star State.

In addition to other similarities between KU and Minnesota, there is another area in which the two schools have a common interest. Deborah Powell, executive dean of the KU School of Medicine, currently is a serious candidate for the deanship of the Minnesota medical school.

What will happen now with the vacancy in the Minnesota presidency is anyone’s guess. Will all new hiring for an athletic director or a medical school dean or other important positions be put on hold?

What is known is that the two schools and their top administrators and athletic directors took far different paths in handling funding for some of their schools’ minor sports. At Minnesota, supporters of these programs are enthused, active and eager to help meet the needs of the university, while at KU, friends, supporters and parents involved with the men’s programs that were eliminated are unhappy, disappointed and not that eager to offer their services and money when and if there is a call from Mount Oread or Allen Fieldhouse.