Got Us a Real Coach

[Goose]

Great job, Shaka.

[21Jumpstreet]

Your opinion is ill-informed. There is already a disparity in financial ability to pay between white and Black students, largely due to overall economic disparities that have been compounded generation after generation. The playing field is extremely uneven, and has been since the beginning (for example, white high school dropouts amass, on the whole, more wealth than black college graduates--and it's not even close). Black students take out more loans, and at much larger amounts, than white students, and they have a harder time paying them back because the racial wealth gap continues after graduation. In public universities, they are 2.5x more likely to drop out than white students, often for financial reasons. The gap is somewhat smaller in private institutions in part because of selectivity and larger endowments/scholarships to support students. Those are well-documented facts.

The pandemic has exacerbated the issue, as many low-income students have left school because they don't have the computer infrastructure (PCs, wifi at home) to successfully complete online classes. In fact, one of the most important post-pandemic recommendations that those who study issues like this have made is that universities need to have healthy, well-advertised emergency funding to support students in crisis times.

Emergency funding like this goes a long way to keeping students in school, and in particular, it's important that Black students know that this funding is available and that they can apply for it. A recent study showed that 2/3 of Black students who didn't apply for this kind of support said that they needed it (compared to 44% of white students). More than half of the Black students didn't even know such support was available.

So not only is the gift itself generous and much needed, the publicity surrounding it also makes students aware that help is available.

Excellent post.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Do I think Shaka is a racist, no; but his donation based on skin color rather than need, is. That is my opinion and if that opinion in the eyes of many here think that is wrong so be it. I hope we're all entitled to our opinion. It is obvious we see the world differently.

Of course you are entitled to your opinion,  no matter how wrong or problematic it is.  It's a free country.

And you misunderstood what I meant.  I want you to really think about why the only time you make any posts about racism you are only concerned when the "racism" targets White people and you don't make a peep about racism that targets non-white people. Try to be honest with yourself

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Tell that to the Jews in this country.

He didn't say White people have never faced difficulties. He said they have never faced difficulties because they are White. Jewish people are targeted because they are Jewish,  not because they are White.  White people who are gay and trans are also targeted but not because of their race.  If the Smarts wanted to make funds fir Jewish or LGBTQ students,  that would be accepted too

[Shooter McGavin]

Excellent post.

+1,  says it all

[ATL MU Warrior]

If a white coach did the exact same thing for poor white kids would the gesture be considered wonderful? In fact in todays climate no white coach would even conceive of doing such a thing. That is not playing the victim it stating the ugly truth.

Nope.  It is absolutely playing the victim and I guess you just can't help it or even see it, that's how strongly it's been ingrained into you.

[ATL MU Warrior]

Been happening for generations. And, yes, it would be considered wonderful as it is currently considered wonderful to help the less fortunate. The difference is that being white has never been a hindrance to getting help.

Perfectly stated

[tower912]

Thank you, Mr. and Mrs Smart, for your gracious and generous contribution.

[fjm]

Setting aside, for a moment, how I personally feel on this subject.  Your analogy is terrible.  Golf handicaps are not based on immutable characteristics.  You don't show up at the first tee and get 2 extra strokes based on race, height, or weight.  It is a system to try and equate player scores based on their prior performance.  I wonder if we should give Tiger Woods extra strokes?  As far as the Smarts' donation...I'm glad we live in a country where they, through their hard work, have the means to make such a donation.  Good on them.

Let's change the subject here a bit from racism and the smarts...

And here is a hot take... Golf Sucks. It's boring. It's lazy. It takes an insane amount of skill. But there is so little joy in it. Also it's expensive. Ugh. I hate golf.

[muwarrior69]

He didn't say White people have never faced difficulties. He said they have never faced difficulties because they are White. Jewish people are targeted because they are Jewish,  not because they are White.  White people who are gay and trans are also targeted but not because of their race.  If the Smarts wanted to make funds fir Jewish or LGBTQ students,  that would be accepted too

The Jews were targeted because of their race, their physical characteristics. Just look at all the Nazi Propaganda towards the Jews. They were not racially pure as far as the Nazi's were concerned.

[The Sultan]

Your opinion is ill-informed. There is already a disparity in financial ability to pay between white and Black students, largely due to overall economic disparities that have been compounded generation after generation. The playing field is extremely uneven, and has been since the beginning (for example, white high school dropouts amass, on the whole, more wealth than black college graduates--and it's not even close). Black students take out more loans, and at much larger amounts, than white students, and they have a harder time paying them back because the racial wealth gap continues after graduation. In public universities, they are 2.5x more likely to drop out than white students, often for financial reasons. The gap is somewhat smaller in private institutions in part because of selectivity and larger endowments/scholarships to support students. Those are well-documented facts.

The pandemic has exacerbated the issue, as many low-income students have left school because they don't have the computer infrastructure (PCs, wifi at home) to successfully complete online classes. In fact, one of the most important post-pandemic recommendations that those who study issues like this have made is that universities need to have healthy, well-advertised emergency funding to support students in crisis times.

Emergency funding like this goes a long way to keeping students in school, and in particular, it's important that Black students know that this funding is available and that they can apply for it. A recent study showed that 2/3 of Black students who didn't apply for this kind of support said that they needed it (compared to 44% of white students). More than half of the Black students didn't even know such support was available.

So not only is the gift itself generous and much needed, the publicity surrounding it also makes students aware that help is available.

This is really, really good.

One other issue is that financial emergencies most often need to be managed by first generation students.  Not only because their parents tend to make less than those with college degrees, but because they don't understand how to navigate higher education and understand where to go for help.  Black students, and other racial minorities, are more likely to be first generation students.

Again, this isn't going to deny support for majority students that need help.  It increases the money available.  Its just that distributions from the Bo and Candy Ellis Endowment will be used directly to support Black students.

[The Sultan]

The Jews were targeted because of their race, their physical characteristics. Just look at all the Nazi Propaganda towards the Jews. They were not racially pure as far as the Nazi's were concerned.

OK but this doesn't counter anything that TAMU said.

[NCMUFan]

More money = good!

[tower912]

Let's change the subject here a bit from racism and the smarts...

And here is a hot take... Golf Sucks. It's boring. It's lazy. It takes an insane amount of skill. But there is so little joy in it. Also it's expensive. Ugh. I hate golf.

It is all fun and games until you start criticizing golf.   

[dgies9156]

I have been utterly amazed by some of the vitriol in the comments criticizing Coach and Mrs. Smart for their generosity.

C'mon folks, we're better than this!

Let's be real. The African-American sections of too many of our communities in the United States have faced the worst of our nation's poverty, crime, poor quality education and a host of other vices that too many of us have never and may never experience. Out of these debilitating issues comes a group of students who are capable and willing to do Marquette work and you're fussing because Coach and Mrs. Smart do something that makes sure these folks get the financial support to ensure their physical and/or emotional needs are met?

Wow.

I admit I was fortunate. When I had a couple of health issues in college, I dialed up Mom and Dad and things were handled. Not everyone has that opportunity. And, I'll admit that poverty among students is colorblind. But nobody has proven that Caucasian or other groups of Marquette students haven't been able to get the emergency assistance they need. Coach and Mrs. Smart have added something significant to assist an often-challenged base of students and some of you people have the unmitigated gall to go off the deep end.

For you who are concerned about set-asides, let me explain things this way. As some of you who have read what I write in the past know (or those of you who know me), my political beliefs are moderately to the right of Brother MU. That's OK and I hope Brother MU continues his passion in his advocacy. But for those of us who are Conservative, we believe in equality of opportunity. My wife and I have given to Marquette's scholarship funds for most of the past 42 years because we believe the way out of poverty is education. We're pretty certain that a good hunk of the money we gave was used by students who either don't look, believe or think like we do. Yet, we know that for our society to improve and for those who didn't have what we had, or our children had, to prosper, folks who are disadvantaged need what Marquette gives -- tools for life!

I can't speak for Coach or Mrs. Smart, but I have to believe they think the same way. I'm confident Marquette will use their generous gift wisely and, as I said earlier in this thread, I really would encourage everybody who reads this thread to follow Coach and Mrs. Smart's example! C'mon Folks, Be the Difference!!!!!

Coach's and Mrs. Smart's last name describes them well!

[MU82]

I can't believe there's a Black History Month without there also being a White History Month. Whites have been deprived history for too long in this country! We want history! We want history!

Oh, and what's with Breast Cancer Awareness Month? Why are so many Americans prejudiced against all the other forms of cancer?

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

I have been utterly amazed by some of the vitriol in the comments criticizing Coach and Mrs. Smart for their generosity.

Sometimes thoughts are best not said and certainly not typed over and over.

This is a very thoughtful gesture by the smarts and is aligned with his message from last game that equity needs action not just verbal support (warning: paraphrasing from memory before i get scoop blasted).

[MU82]

I have been utterly amazed by some of the vitriol in the comments criticizing Coach and Mrs. Smart for their generosity.

C'mon folks, we're better than this!

Let's be real. The African-American sections of too many of our communities in the United States have faced the worst of our nation's poverty, crime, poor quality education and a host of other vices that too many of us have never and may never experience. Out of these debilitating issues comes a group of students who are capable and willing to do Marquette work and you're fussing because Coach and Mrs. Smart do something that makes sure these folks get the financial support to ensure their physical and/or emotional needs are met?

Wow.

I admit I was fortunate. When I had a couple of health issues in college, I dialed up Mom and Dad and things were handled. Not everyone has that opportunity. And, I'll admit that poverty among students is colorblind. But nobody has proven that Caucasian or other groups of Marquette students haven't been able to get the emergency assistance they need. Coach and Mrs. Smart have added something significant to assist an often-challenged base of students and some of you people have the unmitigated gall to go off the deep end.

For you who are concerned about set-asides, let me explain things this way. As some of you who have read what I write in the past know (or those of you who know me), my political beliefs are moderately to the right of Brother MU. That's OK and I hope Brother MU continues his passion in his advocacy. But for those of us who are Conservative, we believe in equality of opportunity. My wife and I have given to Marquette's scholarship funds for most of the past 42 years because we believe the way out of poverty is education. We're pretty certain that a good hunk of the money we gave was used by students who either don't look, believe or think like we do. Yet, we know that for our society to improve and for those who didn't have what we had, or our children had, to prosper, folks who are disadvantaged need what Marquette gives -- tools for life!

I can't speak for Coach or Mrs. Smart, but I have to believe they think the same way. I'm confident Marquette will use their generous gift wisely and, as I said earlier in this thread, I really would encourage everybody who reads this thread to follow Coach and Mrs. Smart's example! C'mon Folks, Be the Difference!!!!!

Coach's and Mrs. Smart's last name describes them well!

Superbly stated.

And there really hasn't been much vitriol. Just a couple of ignorant posters; I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say they're simply too brainwashed to know better.

[Galway Eagle]

Bring white isn't why Jews in this country have been mistreated.  Bring Jewish is why.

There are plenty of difficulties white people go through.  Just being white doesn't add to those difficulties.

While I disagree with 69 and the insane arguments a few others point at around this thread there's something you said here that I find very wrong and need to address.

Jews have not always been historically white. Yes they are now and have received at least two generations of the privilege of being welcomed to the party, however that doesn't mean they've had the benefit of accruing generational wealth due to white privilege. It's also why so many other previously marginalized groups get defensive in response to the concept. We generally accept the idea of "generational pain" in regards to African American and indigenous mistreatment but ignore it for any white groups who were not considered white very recently and we're not equitably added to the party.

Essentially I'm saying there's a big big difference between saying "I'm a wasp from new England who's had money going back to the mayflower" and saying "I'm a (white hispanic, Irish, Greek, Jewish, Italian, etc) that was added to the 'whitelist' in the teens-40s"

To 69:

Now that being said I know for a fact individual white heritage foundations and scholarships exist. It's BS to get worked up over this donation going to black students. They are currently still marginalized. Also if, let's say for arguments sake, that 50% of the African American undergrads experience poverty and the same stat is true for white students. That leaves 4,000 white students standing in line for these funds at the general fund and 219 black students hoping for a small piece of the pie. Is the fund really able to allocate for all them? My guess is no, Shakas making a spot where the black students don't have to stand in line behind a disproportionate amount of white students in order to receive a check. This also benefits the white students as now there's 419 people less they're sharing that main fund with so it's really just ensuring the black students aren't getting pocket chain at the end of the line.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

The Jews were targeted because of their race, their physical characteristics. Just look at all the Nazi Propaganda towards the Jews. They were not racially pure as far as the Nazi's were concerned.

Yes and it's because their race was Jewish,  not White. Hitler loved the Whites. And as Galway pointed out,  many Jews, especially those in Europe at the time of the Holocaust were not considered White or White passing

[muwarrior69]

While I disagree with 69 and the insane arguments a few others point at around this thread there's something you said here that I find very wrong and need to address.

Jews have not always been historically white. Yes they are now and have received at least two generations of the privilege of being welcomed to the party, however that doesn't mean they've had the benefit of accruing generational wealth due to white privilege. It's also why so many other previously marginalized groups get defensive in response to the concept. We generally accept the idea of "generational pain" in regards to African American and indigenous mistreatment but ignore it for any white groups who were not considered white very recently and we're not equitably added to the party.

Essentially I'm saying there's a big big difference between saying "I'm a wasp from new England who's had money going back to the mayflower" and saying "I'm a (white hispanic, Irish, Greek, Jewish, Italian, etc) that was added to the 'whitelist' in the teens-40s"

To 69:

Now that being said I know for a fact individual white heritage foundations and scholarships exist. It's BS to get worked up over this donation going to black students. They are currently still marginalized. Also if, let's say for arguments sake, that 50% of the African American undergrads experience poverty and the same stat is true for white students. That leaves 4,000 white students standing in line for these funds at the general fund and 219 black students hoping for a small piece of the pie. Is the fund really able to allocate for all them? My guess is no, Shakas making a spot where the black students don't have to stand in line behind a disproportionate amount of white students in order to receive a check. This also benefits the white students as now there's 419 people less they're sharing that main fund with so it's really just ensuring the black students aren't getting pocket chain at the end of the line.

I would hope the funds go to the students who are most in need. As cj111 stated the black dropout rate is 2.5 times higher than whites which would indicate that the funds should go to more black students than white.

[Skatastrophy]

If you want to contribute to the fund that Mr & Mrs Smart just endowed in honor of Bo and Candy Ellis, you can go here and donate to the Student Success Fund. It's not in the default list, so you have to search for it.



Here's an article with quotes from the Smart and Ellis families - https://www.marquette.edu/news-center/2022/shaka-and-maya-smart-make-major-gift-to-marquette.php

[dgies9156]

Superbly stated.

And there really hasn't been much vitriol. Just a couple of ignorant posters; I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say they're simply too brainwashed to know better.

Brother MU:

Less brainwashing and more stuck in a construct based on past experience.

In the years since I was graduated, I've come across more than a few people who are either angry or bitter because of the combination of cost and lack of support for their educational efforts. Many don't give to Marquette because they think the university is awash in money.

It isn't -- perhaps unfortunately, but it isn't.

Into the construct of "I didn't get any" comes targeted gifts and people become angered. It's the old "why should they get it when I didn't" view of the world. This anger is especially prevalent when funds and opportunity are earmarked for specific groups of people, whoever they are.

Perhaps it's because my wife and I experienced some of the worst of human nature vented at our children because of the implications from being born into overseas orphanages, but our eyes have been opened to the fact that we really don't understand the conditions from which many disadvantaged folks come. We can't understand because our middle class experiences are very different. Just like few who lives in upper middle class America can understand conditions in a post-Soviet era orphanage, few of us can truly understand what happens in a community where bullets fly, schools stink and traditional families and infrastructures that encourage us, don't often exist.

We should celebrate the folks that make a difference, rather than disparage them.

As a side note, one of my good friends is involved in University of Texas athletics and had several opportunities to meet with Coach and Mrs. Smart. His comments from Day 1 were we were getting an incredible coach and, importantly, two incredible people. Boy was he right! On both counts.

[Scoop Snoop]

Here's something from the Smart's Richmond days.

https://richmondmagazine.com/news/news/interview-maya-payne-smart

[Warrior2008]

Thank you coach and Mrs. Smart for your generous gift.  College can be challenging enough, but managing college while dealing with financial or social pressures can break many people.  Marquette University should always strive to push students to pursue academic excellence while supporting them in ways that allow them to achieve their fullest potential.

Again thank you to the Smarts for their incredible leadership.  Marquette is so incredibly blessed to have them apart of this community.