You had discussed taking out loans to cover budget deficits. Does this change that?
We were planning on a $55 million shortfall. And we had worked through all of our numbers — the cuts we’ve made, the salary reductions, the reductions in our operational budget, and some of the other pieces — and it looked like roughly a $20 million loan was what we were going to look for. Depending on how much we receive from our TV partners, it could be no loan at all, if, in fact, we get $20-plus million from our TV partners. That would be great news for us, since we’ve got debt service already. We can balance our numbers with a $55 million loss, so any of the revenue is just going to help us in that pursuit.
I got an email this morning from a former Cal athlete and current donor who is concerned about the future of nonrevenue Olympic sports. Does this decision help keep them viable?
When I started at Cal, the chancellor and I agreed that cutting sports was the absolute last resort. Even in…
