8/27/2010: By Ben Jacklet in Oregon Business:
… George Fox fielded a football team from 1894 to 1968 but dropped it when the team could no longer compete. Bringing back football after a 42-year absence is a point of pride to University President Robin Baker, and a smart business decision. Like Pacific, George Fox has fairly steep tuition ($36,000 including room and board) and women make up 62% of students. By restarting football, “we’ll draw around 75 new students who are men who will pay to be a part of George Fox University and to play football here,” says Baker. “It makes perfect financial sense.”
George Fox already has started building a $6.5 million sports complex with lacrosse and soccer fields as well as a 1,200-seat football stadium. The university will hire a coaching staff to rebuild the team from scratch and is looking forward to its largest incoming freshmen class ever in the fall of 2013 — if not by number of students then certainly by weight.
George Fox University is, of course, named after the founder of the Quakers. The story includes this from President Lariviere, on UO:
“With the new arena coming online and additional expenses of hiring personnel, we’ve got a couple of tight years coming up,” says Lariviere.
Fortunately the faculty and staff are happy to cover those coaches’ salaries by paying higher parking fees.
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