University of Evansville
to reinstate football in 2007
By Howie Baker, THG Sports
After a ten year hiatus, the
University of Evansville Purple Aces football team will suit up for play again
in 2007 under President Stephen G.
Jennings plan to “rejuvenate” the school.
U of E, a small Methodist university of 2,200
students, has struggled with declining enrollment since dropping football in
1997 as part of a series of cost-cutting measures. Dr. Jennings is hoping that
investing athletic and university funds in a football program will draw interest
to the university and give it some credibility. “Let’s face it; many students
do not want to attend a college without a football team. Right now, we are like
peanut butter without the jelly.”
While most of the university’s sports
participate in NCAA Division I-A, the former football team was a non-scholarship
I-AA program. This will change when football is reinstated in 2007. The Aces
will compete as a full member of the Gateway Conference, which is the premier
football conference in I-AA. This means the football team will have 65
scholarships available for student-athletes.
The football Aces will compete with several
area schools, including Southern Illinois, Indiana State, and Western Kentucky.
“This is why the Gateway Conference was a perfect fit for U of E,” added
Jennings.
There are plans to 27,000 seat stadium on land
near campus. Until then, the team will compete in the largest football venue in
the area, Reitz (High School) Bowl, a facility that holds approximately 12,000.
The soccer team will continue to compete in puny Arad McCutchan Stadium, the
former football field.
Next on the agenda for Jennings is hiring a
coach to oversee the development of the program and battling the many Title IX
legal issues the university faces by bringing back football.
