Thanks for the reply. I agree that ND seems to be committed

to the 100MM great white whale at this point.

I largely agree with the rest of your post.

I do still hope that some time in what's left of my life ND once again has a strong leader who can return ND to doing what it does best, which I believe is different than its current path.

I'm not advocating for a league with Duke, Rice, et cetera. I am fine with continuing to try to compete in the big leagues. I don't like the path that appears to have been chosen, and I am commenting in that vein. I'm not suggesting that it can be undone. But my hope is that pressure from alumni might someday impact a future decision.

I find the excess everywhere around the university extremely distasteful. Likewise the pervasive mediocrity and lack of accountability.

Status as an alum or not should have no bearing on anyone weighing in. I do think that alums in general have a different understanding of the place. That's not a knock on you or any non-alum, it's just the result of the paths that each of us has taken.