Peter Dalis Dalis is the outgoing UCLA director
of athletics. Â
On June 30, I will retire from UCLA after 19 years as director
of athletics. I have been a UCLA employee for 43 years after four
as a student. During my 47 years, I have seen the campus grow and
change. During my time at UCLA, especially during the last 19
years, the world of intercollegiate athletics has changed
immeasurably. But one thing has remained constant … UCLA is still
at the top by most measurable standards. No university can match
its combination of NCAA championships, bowl game success, Olympic
participants and academic achievement. UCLA has won 86 NCAA team
championships during its illustrious history, more than any other
school in the nation. The UCLA football team has won nine bowl
games in the last 20 years, a total exceeded by just six schools
nationally. The men’s basketball team has participated in the
last 14 NCAA tournaments, a streak bettered by just two schools.
UCLA athletes routinely earn spots on Olympic teams or on other
national teams. In the last four Summer Games, current and former
Bruins have won more than their share of medals. Five former Bruins
are representing the United States in the current World Cup soccer
competition in South Korea. Fifty-five Bruins have earned NCAA
Post-Graduate Scholarships and 48 have earned first-team
CoSIDA/Verizon Academic All-America acclaim. The economics of
college athletics has changed in the last two decades, but UCLA has
done an excellent job of staying ahead of the financial demands of
intercollegiate athletics. For the last nine years, the athletic
department’s budget has been positive at the end of the
fiscal year. During that span, the department has eliminated a $3
million deficit that began with a television rights holder’s
bankruptcy in the mid-1980s. In addition, the athletic department
has funded many facility improvements. The new Morgan Center, which
opened two years ago and provides offices for all of our coaches,
and an academic center. The new Acosta Center, which is currently
under construction and will be finished early in 2004, will include
a new medical training facility, a weight room twice the current
size, new locker rooms, meeting rooms and video areas for
men’s and women’s sports. I want to commend the UCLA
student-athletes on their contribution to this university’s
athletic tradition. During the last 19 years, the academic
environment at UCLA has become increasingly challenging. That the
student-athletes of this program have been able to successfully
balance the increased demands on their time, both in the classrooms
and study halls, as well as on the fields of competition, is an
achievement that deserves mentioning. Being a member of a team
helps a student-athlete develop skills that will serve them
throughout their life, especially as leaders. Being a leader
presents many challenges, including developing a personal strategy
to respond to the challenges of being a leader while being aware
and understanding of individual differences in team members. The
opportunity to develop and expand those skills, while setting goals
of improvement and acquisition of additional skills, both
individually and as a team, will have long-term benefits. If we
have helped student-athletes prepare for lifelong success in the
world, as well as in the arena of competition, then we have been
successful in our mission as an athletic department and a
university.