>From the Desk of Ken Ralph - Director of Athletics

I wanted to take a moment to thank all of the alumni that have taken the
time to express their concerns about NCAA Proposal #65.  Your support and
thoughtfulness in this process have made it easier for all of the schools
involved.  To recap the situation: the NCAA Presidents' Council created a
proposal to eliminate the awarding of scholarships by Division III schools
that "play up" to Division I in one select sport.  This has become known as
Proposal #65 due to its numbering in the NCAA Convention official notice.
Since Rensselaer is a Division III school that supports its Division I Ice
Hockey Program with scholarships, we became one of eight schools nationwide
affected by this proposal.  After meeting with our administration and the
representatives from the other schools affected, we decided to mount a
vigorous campaign to defeat Proposal #65.

Our first tactic was to try and have the proposal overturned at an NCAA
Presidents' Council meeting in October.  With support on the Council we
thought there was a slight chance that we could get the proposal removed
before it ever reached the floor of the Convention.  We were not successful
as the Chair of the Presidents' Council single-handedly pressed the Council
to move the item to a floor vote at the Convention in January.  Since that
time we have been working in conjunction with the other affected
Institutions at both the athletic director and the presidential level.  We
have met in person and by conference call at least one a week since late
October and have crafted a strategy we hope will produce the desired results
in January at the NCAA Convention.

In late October, the affected schools introduced an amendment-to-amendment
(now called #65-1) that would be placed before the NCAA Division III
representatives for consideration.  It would amend Proposal #65 to in effect
"grandfather" the eight schools while also closing some of the loopholes in
the existing legislation.  We have also been very aggressive in getting the
word out about our situation, including the hiring of a public relations
firm to guide our efforts, the development of several educational materials
that have been distributed to every Division III school, the development of
a web site (stopprop65.com), contact by the presidents to their peers in
Division III, and the contact of every Division III athletic director in the
country by the athletic directors from the affected schools.  In addition to
the national push, Rensselaer has also sent post cards directly to Myles
Brand and the NCAA, created a banner which was signed by our fans for
display at the NCAA Convention, and posted copies of some of the educational
materials right on the front page of the Institute's web site.

While all of the work has been very time-consuming, it has been worth it to
try and preserve the heritage of Division I ice hockey at Rensselaer.  It is
also important to note that the Department of Athletics has received
tremendous support from Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, Eddie Knowles, David
Haviland, Jane Van Ryan, and the Rensselaer Alumni Association.  This has
truly been a team effort on behalf of Rensselaer, its students, its alumni,
and its fans.  I am proud to have been part of this very difficult process.

The vote will be held on January 12th in Nashville.  While I know many of
you are anxious to hear of the results, you can be certain that Rensselaer
has put its best foot forward in this campaign.  We are committed to
sponsoring hockey at the Division I level and will continue to work right up
until the vote.

Thank you again for your support.  Have a very happy and safe holiday
season.