"Cal is the first place where I have felt there was an exact fit of interests and goals. I've spent 23 years preparing for this opportunity."
"As my somewhat brazen father would say, were he here, 'It is to Cal's great credit that they have made a spectacular choice.'"
[Ed note: echoes in the press conference room adversely affected the audio clips attached to this story. We have attempted to process them to make them intelligible. The "sound effects" include the shutter clicks of nearby cameras.]
Chancellor Berdhal, while noting that this was his last press conference as Chancellor of the University, introduced incoming Chancellor Robert Birgeneau (pronounced bir-jen-oh) who will formally assume his new duties next week.
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Robert Birgeneau
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Incoming Chancellor Birgeneau described Cal's new athletic director, Sandy Barbour, as an outstanding choice, eminently qualified to assume her new duties at Berkeley. Chancellor Birgeneau's remarks are available here.
Ms. Barbour has most recently been the deputy director of Athletics at Notre Dame, and thus the senior administrator under Athletics
Director Kevin White.
In her remarks, the new AD emphasized core values, both hers, her family's, and those of the University of California and its support community. As noted in the first sentence quoted above, her decision to accept Cal's offer was principally based on these perceived values and the leadership and integrity of the institution she is joining. In noting that she has only heard about facilities issues at Cal, but not toured them, she made it clear that
these values dominated the discussions, not physical plant.
She noted that her "charter" from to-be-Chancellor Birgeneau was
for Cal football to compete for the national championship and for Cal athletics
to achieve consistent top-10 rankings in the [Sear's Cup descendent], while
at the same time always being NCAA compliant and fiscally prudent.
"Cal represents everything that's right with higher education and
intercollegiate athletics, said Barbour, 44, who agreed to a five-year contract
with the campus..... This is what I've been working toward my entire life."
Sandy Barbour's opening remarks at the press conference today are available
here.
At the press conference, Cal beat writers asked the expected questions:
Are you aware of the department's $3-$5 million deficit? How do you plan to deal with it?
Are you aware of the clause in Coach Tedford's contract that eases departure to another institution in the event groundbreaking at Memorial does not happen this year? Cal Cal
afford to carry 27 sports? Do you expect to make staff changes?
In almost all instances, the answers were general, non-specific,
as might be expected from a person with zero days on the job. (She has
called a staff
meeting for 7:30 AM tomorrow).
"We look to the growth of income from revenue sports to make up
shortfalls".
"Yes, we expect to have the key donors in place soon and to get the Memorial project underway."
"I am aware of Dan Coonan's departure, so there is one staff slot to fill - we'll take the rest on a day-to-day basis. "
"Cutting sports would be the absolutely last resort."
There was a somewhat more comprehensive answer to one quesiton:
To what extent have you been briefed on the Memorial Stadium project?
"We've had that conversation through the entire search process,
and we're going to get after that quickly and pick it up at the point where it already
is. We're committed to getting it done. It's an essential part of maintaining that momentum here that I've talked about.
We've got great folks here that are working on that project ... it is a huge priority for this institution and this department. What we need to do now is pick it up where Steve and his folks have left off and see the project to completion."
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