Future FCS Team...

[DFW HOYA]

The nascent Ave Maria University program has ditched its idea to be a I-A school for another subdivision. AMU, currently with club sports, will join the NAIA in 2008 with an eye on NCAA I-AA/FCS competition thereafter.

Said founder Tom Monaghan: "I feel that when we’re at our 20-year goal of 5,500 students — 4,000 undergraduate students — that we could be possibly at the very highest in Division I-AA like Georgetown and the Ivy League schools."

Appreciate the compliment! xsmileyclapx

(Might take a while to get used to that nickname, though...)

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/aug/20/beginning_ave_maria_football_versus_irish_not_goin/?print

[Franks Tanks]

The nascent Ave Maria University program has ditched its idea to be a I-A school for another subdivision. AMU, currently with club sports, will join the NAIA in 2008 with an eye on NCAA I-AA/FCS competition thereafter.

Said founder Tom Monaghan: "I feel that when we’re at our 20-year goal of 5,500 students — 4,000 undergraduate students — that we could be possibly at the very highest in Division I-AA like Georgetown and the Ivy League schools."

Appreciate the compliment! xsmileyclapx

(Might take a while to get used to that nickname, though...)

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/aug/20/beginning_ave_maria_football_versus_irish_not_goin/?print

Who are these guys? are they even a real college. Maybe they should get a campus before they compare themselves with G-town or the Ivy league, what a crazt pipe dream.

[Seahawks Fan]

Check them out: http://www.avemaria.edu/

[andy7171]

Who are these guys? are they even a real college. Maybe they should get a campus before they compare themselves with G-town or the Ivy league, what a crazt pipe dream.
A girl from my church goes there. It is a real school.

Unfortunately, I think they are connected to that wacko separatist catholic new town down there. I saw a tv show on the town founder who wants a catholic only place to live. I IN NO WAYwant to start the catholic bashing, but things like this give the rest of us a bad name.

[Franks Tanks]

Check them out: http://www.avemaria.edu/

I read up on them of course, they have 450 students and like 3 classrooms so calling them a glorified junior college at this point is being generous. I just found it humerous who they compared themselves to.

[Go Bison]

A girl from my church goes there. It is a real school.

Unfortunately, I think they are connected to that wacko separatist catholic new town down there. I saw a tv show on the town founder who wants a catholic only place to live. I IN NO WAYwant to start the catholic bashing, but things like this give the rest of us a bad name.


Wacko separatist catholic new town? Interesting. The founder is Tom Monaghan who founded Domino's Pizza and was the owner of the Detroit Tigers.

From everything I have heard they are a solid Catholic university. I see they had Peggy Noonan speak at their commencement. Her is what she said: "I believe you are at the beginning of something brilliant here at Ave Maria," Noonan said, addressing her remarks to the graduating class. "I believe you are at the beginning of what will be known as the great Catholic university of the 21st century in America."

[Go Bison]

I read up on them of course, they have 450 students and like 3 classrooms so calling them a glorified junior college at this point is being generous. I just found it humerous who they compared themselves to.

Well, they did say that was their 20 year plan. Maybe they get there, maybe they don't but a lot can happen in 20 years.

[UAalum72]

Well, they've got the money as long as Monaghan is around
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-07-31-avemaria-growth_N.htm

[bandit]

This is exactly why I never order Domino's pizza... the owner is a wackjob, IMHO. And i'm catholic.

[Mike Johnson]

I would submit that the statement "at the highest", means that they might be NAIA, or NCAA Division II or "at the highest" I-AA. And that at the end of the planned buildout over 20 years. I think it is only natural to use well known teams to indicate what that might mean to a public that largely doesn't understand the very many athletic associations that serve as sanctioning bodies and that define discreet levels of athletic play.

When Utah Valley State College talks about adding football, they always use Weber State and Southern Utah as examples of the level they intend to play at when that finally happens.

[blueballs]

The builder I do mortgages for has a 300+ unit community about 5 minutes from there. I also know the president of the Immokalee Chamber of Commerce pretty well (I did his mortgage too) and can say w/o reservation that the plans they have for that community will come to fruition in the next 10-20 years- bank on it. There is some big money behind these growth plans, including the federal govt, and it will happen.

There is a Hard Rock (Indian) casino in the area and the citrus industry is booming. Immokalee itself is a very poor community currently but is starting to grow. It is in a very advantageous area geographically. The school is expanding and has an aggressive growth plan.

You guys poo-pooing this had better study up a little because you will be run over by the train of progress if you don't.

As far as football is concerned, that Ft Myers/Naples area has a lot of good talent and Miami is only 1.5 hours away- they'll get players.

[jessesd]

This pipe dream makes me think of some schools already competing at Div I level.
.... right off the top of my head.

BYU.... Great Academics and good sport program (Boring campus unless you are mormon!)
Oral Roberts (same story different religion)
Liberty (same story different religion)
And countless other schools all over the country associated with churches

Many of the schools were lead by people everyone refered by "Whackos" at the time these schools were created because of their future vision, many years later look at them!!
Must have long term visions in this world in order to survive.
Remember that having strong financial support, donations, fundraising, research, Etc are some of the most important things for a new school to survive nowadays.

Ave Maria U seems to have enough supply of $$$ to maintain good staff/faculty and pass the accreditation, offer scholarships and the rest takes time.

Working on the school favor..... "it's located in Florida!!!!
Tell them blueballs!!!

[Franks Tanks]

The builder I do mortgages for has a 300+ unit community about 5 minutes from there. I also know the president of the Immokalee Chamber of Commerce pretty well (I did his mortgage too) and can say w/o reservation that the plans they have for that community will come to fruition in the next 10-20 years- bank on it. There is some big money behind these growth plans, including the federal govt, and it will happen.

There is a Hard Rock (Indian) casino in the area and the citrus industry is booming. Immokalee itself is a very poor community currently but is starting to grow. It is in a very advantageous area geographically. The school is expanding and has an aggressive growth plan.

You guys poo-pooing this had better study up a little because you will be run over by the train of progress if you don't.

As far as football is concerned, that Ft Myers/Naples area has a lot of good talent and Miami is only 1.5 hours away- they'll get players.


This guy is a visionary, but I cant see how a 4 year old university with no reputation and a borderline fringe religious doctrine will attract the best and brightest students in the nation. The only way its even slightly possible is if they all go for free on scholarships, but even then its a stretch. The university will serve a niche and many who attend will have a rewarding experience, but talk about delusions of grandeur!

[Franks Tanks]

This pipe dream makes me think of some schools already competing at Div I level.
.... right off the top of my head.

BYU.... Great Academics and good sport program (Boring campus unless you are mormon!)
Oral Roberts (same story different religion)
Liberty (same story different religion)
And countless other schools all over the country associated with churches

Many of the schools were lead by people everyone refered by "Whackos" at the time these schools were created because of their future vision, many years later look at them!!
Must have long term visions in this world in order to survive.
Remember that having strong financial support, donations, fundraising, research, Etc are some of the most important things for a new school to survive nowadays.

Ave Maria U seems to have enough supply of $$$ to maintain good staff/faculty and pass the accreditation, offer scholarships and the rest takes time.

Working on the school favor..... "it's located in Florida!!!!
Tell them blueballs!!!


Point taken, and Oral Roberts and Liberty and fine universities but nobody is confusing them with Notre Dame and Georgetown.

[walliver]

Said founder Tom Monaghan: "I feel that when we’re at our 20-year goal of 5,500 students — 4,000 undergraduate students — that we could be possibly at the very highest in Division I-AA like Georgetown and the Ivy League schools."

It's kind of a strange quote. I-AA is not an academic classification, and most people would not consider the schools mentioned as "very highest" as far as football (no offense intended to low/no scholarship programs). I don't know if the implication was for non-scholarship football, or if he was just mentioning what he hoped would be "peer" schools, I suspect the latter.

[andy7171]

Point taken, and Oral Roberts and Liberty and fine universities but nobody is confusing them with Notre Dame and Georgetown.

BUT, G'town and Notre Dame are catholic schools. I don't think an outspoken catholic like this guy would say he strives to be a Liberty or Oral Roberts, idealologically.

I think he gives those schools names because that is what he is trying to create.

[Franks Tanks]

BUT, G'town and Notre Dame are catholic schools. I don't think an outspoken catholic like this guy would say he strives to be a Liberty or Oral Roberts, idealologically.

I think he gives those schools names because that is what he is trying to create.

Defintily, but he is trying to create a community of very like minded religious individuals. I would bet that most students and Notre Dame and Georgetown arent hardcore catholics, and many arent catholic or Christian at all. The Liberty or Oral Roberts comparison is better in the sense they are all or will be very homogeneus.

[laxVik]

This is exactly why I never order Domino's pizza... the owner is a wackjob, IMHO. And i'm catholic.No crazier than Falwell. And he was a kook. Yet people support Liberty fb.

[greenG]

This is exactly why I never order Domino's pizza... the owner is a wackjob, IMHO. And i'm catholic.
Monaghan sold the pizza franchise operation years ago. He still owns a very large commercial development in Ann Arbor.

[andy7171]

The Liberty or Oral Roberts comparison is better in the sense they are all or will be very homogeneus.
Oh I agree with you on that.
My point was a Catholic like him doesn't want to equate himself to LU or ORU in the same way they don't want to be equated with the Catholicism. xpeacex

[greenG]

Who are these guys? are they even a real college. Maybe they should get a campus before they compare themselves with G-town or the Ivy league, what a crazt pipe dream.

Until last year Ave Maria's campus was two one-story elementary schools, a small apartment building, and a couple of large 19th-century houses on Forest Street, immediately east of the Eastern Michigan University campus in Ypsilanti. The school is unaccredited. There is a Ave Maria law school on Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor which is accredited and will be moving to the Florida campus.

Monaghan owns Domino Farms (http://www.dominosfarms.com/), a large commercial development, in Ann Arbor. Before moving to Florida he announced that he was going to convert Domino Farms into the Ave Maria campus. He also wanted to erect a 250 ft. cross on the property near the interstate. The local governments, who several years before had given him all sorts of easements to build Domino Farms balked at losing a major part of their tax base and denied the necessary zoning changes.

[Franks Tanks]

Until last year Ave Maria's campus was two one-story elementary schools, a small apartment building, and a couple of large 19th-century houses on Forest Street, immediately east of the Eastern Michigan University campus in Ypsilanti. The school is unaccredited. There is a Ave Maria law school on Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor which is accredited and will be moving to the Florida campus.

Monaghan owns Domino Farms (http://www.dominosfarms.com/), a large commercial development, in Ann Arbor. Before moving to Florida he announced that he was going to convert Domino Farms into the Ave Maria campus. He also wanted to erect a 250 ft. cross on the property near the interstate. The local governments, who several years before had given him all sorts of easements to build Domino Farms balked at losing a major part of their tax base and denied the necessary zoning changes.

Thanks for the info, I didnt mean who are these guys literally I get all my info from Wikipedia. xsmiley_wix But more so where did they come from? This guy obviously had the money to create this universiy, but it will be interesting to see where it goes.

[Mike Johnson]

It's kind of a strange quote. I-AA is not an academic classification, and most people would not consider the schools mentioned as "very highest" as far as football (no offense intended to low/no scholarship programs). I don't know if the implication was for non-scholarship football, or if he was just mentioning what he hoped would be "peer" schools, I suspect the latter.

"Very Highest" is the very highest he sees the athletics program at his school will become in 20 years. And not that these programs are at the very highest level.

[Mike Johnson]

Point taken, and Oral Roberts and Liberty and fine universities but nobody is confusing them with Notre Dame and Georgetown.

I remember Jerry Falwell saying that he enivisioned "Liberty for the Christians as the same as Notre Dame for the Catholics and BYU for the Mormons". So, while he used a rather limited definition of Christian that excludes churches that claim to be Christian, he was in fact comparing Liberty with Notre Dame, at least in terms of his vision for his institution.

As for me, anybody willing to put up the money to produce new choices in higher education and new athletic possiblities, I think, should be welcomed and not criticized. All universities--religious or otherwise--had a visionary that helped get them created or expanded into something new. Some had this one or more centuries ago, and some newer, but all needed that kind of drive and many others failed to meet the vision.

[Mike Johnson]

Here is an interesting quote from Notre Dame's website. After discussing its first great advantage--being the only Catholic university in the midwest at a time when railroads were opening up the area and a massive immigration from Europe, many of whom were Catholic, was occuring--it says:

"The University's second, and even greater, advantage was the character of its founder, Father Sorin, whose overarching vision of a great American Catholic university in the tradition of the great Medieval universities has inspired Notre Dame's growth over its entire history."

This is an earlier example of a visionary man looking to establish something that matches something else with great traditions. This is an example of a vision that succeeded. It might have failed and others have. This Ave Maria Univeristy may succeed and it may fail, but it is simply following the established pattern.