Dear ETSU Students:
Next week you will be voting in a student referendum on an increase in your student athletic fee to support beginning a new football program, as well as the administrative costs and improvements to women’s sports programs that accompany that decision.  Your vote will influence a decision that will have an impact on the future of ETSU for years to come.
With your support, a championship level football program can be added to current ETSU programs to provide a comprehensive, broad-based, highly visible athletic program of excellence that achieves the goals reached by many of our peer institutions. 
A positive student vote will affect the future of ETSU as an institution by putting us in a position to compete against outstanding peer institutions in all sports. 
It will also help us continue to build spirit and tradition on campus and will make your alma mater more visible to people outside the region, and to your prospective employers.
Even with the increase, your student athletic fee is still much lower than many of our peer institutions like MTSU and Appalachian State. As we continue to create an exciting campus atmosphere and great experiences at athletic events, we hope our current students will want to return to campus regularly after they graduate and become lifetime Bucs supporters. In order to encourage this ongoing attendance, current students who contribute to the athletics fee before the program begins in 2010 will be given the opportunity to obtain free season tickets for the number of years you paid the fee.
Many people ask, “Why is a successful athletics program so vital to a college campus and college community? Why do so many institutions invest so many resources of money, energy, personnel, and attention to developing first-class athletics programs?”
First, college athletics — particularly championship level college athletics — is an important component of the college experience for all students. 
Second, college athletics provides outsiders the front porch through which to enter the door of the university. 
Many people who never attended ETSU gain their first knowledge of the fantastic academic programs and specialties of our university through the window of athletics. 
Third, “college towns” are special places. Universities offer diverse cultural, recreational, social, and economic benefits — they improve the quality of life for everyone in the community. ETSU Athletics plays a vital role in creating a better Johnson City and a better region in which to learn, live, raise a family and do business.
The foundation has been laid. The process has been put in place. The student vote is the first crucial step.
— Dave Mullins, Director of Athletics 

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