My colleagues and I were disappointed to open the Feb. 5 issue of The Ram and read an opinion article titled “Stickers vs. Sandwiches: Fordham Basketball’s Promotion Problem.” In short, the writer posits that the Fordham Athletic Department has been derelict in its duty to promote our men’s and women’s basketball programs in a fair and equal manner. She claims that the quality and quantity of our promotional efforts indicate that we have “little interest in promoting the women’s team at the same level as the men’s.”
As far as I know, no one from The Ram reached out to any member of our department staff to comment or provide clarification on the matter. If anyone had, I hope that we could have disproved the notion that we are anything but an ally in the fight to further women’s sports, most notably our women’s basketball team.
The article points to a promotional email sent to students ahead of the weekend of Jan. 25-26, during which the women’s team hosted their Pride Game on Saturday before the men’s team welcomed Duquesne University on Sunday afternoon. For the women’s game, the department handed out Pride-themed sticker sheets. For the men’s game, we handed out t-shirts, posters and breakfast sandwiches to the first 200 students. On its face, I can see how one might perceive preferential treatment, but examining one weekend in a season-long promotional calendar lacks vital context. For instance, that men’s game against Duquesne was the team’s annual “Whiteout” game, in which all fans were given a white t-shirt to create an appealing visual effect. The women’s team hosted its “Whiteout” (during which free t-shirts were also handed out) on Nov. 8 against California State University, Fullerton. The poster in question, the first in our three-part series celebrating the Rose Hill Gym’s 100th anniversary, was also handed out at the women’s game against the University of Dayton on Jan. 18. The breakfast sandwiches were not purchased by the marketing department.
The article’s author points to the fact that nine women’s games feature giveaways this season compared to 11 men’s games. This leaves out a critical piece of context: the women’s team is scheduled to play two fewer home games than the men’s team. The author also claims that several of our giveaways for women’s games were “low-value.” We disagree with this subjective statement but are always looking for feedback on what kinds of items would encourage student attendance. Furthermore, the women’s promotional calendar includes several items not on the men’s schedule that I personally view as high-value, including a pink beanie for the breast cancer awareness game (Feb. 16) and a Fordham Basketball tote bag for the Black History Month celebration (Feb. 19).
The article then goes into a further discussion on the state of women’s sports in general and how far less attention is paid to women’s athletics nationally compared to the men’s game. No one is arguing this fact. We just ask that you realize who your allies are in this fight and who is not. Eilish Devine, our assistant athletic director for marketing and promotions, is a former NCAA athlete and coach. A vast majority of her student workers and interns are young women dreaming of careers in sports. Our women’s basketball staff places a great emphasis on promotional efforts, going as far as to reimagine a traditional coaching role this past offseason and hire Brooke Alverson to assist with marketing, social media and community engagement. Personally, I am the son of Fordham Women’s Basketball’s all-time leading scorer and have spent a large portion of my professional career working for women’s teams.
That being said, we are the first to acknowledge that excitement and attention cannot be wholly manufactured within the walls of an athletic department. Lasting support from students must be overwhelmingly organic. Please continue to attend games. Please encourage your classmates and friends to attend with you. Tell everyone you meet how worthwhile and exciting the women’s basketball team is. We’ll be right there to celebrate the team with you.
Andrew O’Connell, FCRH ’12, Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic Communications
