Quote from: Gregory Sager on May 22, 2006, 04:13:40 AM

Quote from: devildog29 on May 19, 2006, 06:57:57 PM
It seems to be a rather slow period of discussion, so I thought I'd throw this tidbit of info up that I ran across.  A little while back there was a discussion as to the religious affiliations of CCIW and other institutions.  I was looking into some grad. school programs and checking out info on US News and World Report.  For the heck of it I was looking up IWU and noticed that according to US News, it shows IWU as having no religious affiliation.  Now, I don't know the criteria required to be considered an "affiliation," but I thought that was an interesting fact for cocktail parties.  The school does not get any money from the Methodist church anymore, but I thought there was still some loose ties with scholarships, etc.  Thought I'd throw that out for discussion.

We've been over this before, Devildog. The United Methodist Church (not just "the Methodist church"; it's a specific denomination, as there's several other denominations that call themselves "Methodist") retains a very loose relationship with Illinois Wesleyan University thru the UMC's General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. The GBHEM website (http:www.gbhem.org/gbhem/colleg.html) outlines the formal structure of the relationship that the UMC has with the colleges and universities affiliated with it, and lists those schools. Illinois Wesleyan is on that list.

Numerous people have attested to the fact that the UMC's footprint on the Illinois Wesleyan campus is close to being vestigial, and is for all practical purposes invisible. It certainly has a much lower profile than the ELCA's presence on the Carthage and Augustana campuses, to say nothing of the even closer relationship between NPU and its parent denomination (The Evangelical Covenant Church) that is very apparent within North Park's campus life. Nevertheless, if US News & World Report stated that Illinois Wesleyan has no religious affiliation, it's in error. Which is no surprise, if you ask me. I've never been terribly impressed by that magazine.

The relationship between IWU and the United Methodist church is certainly not what it once was. For that matter the relationship between all UMC colleges and the UMC is not what it once was. However, Illinois Wesleyan's relationship with it's church founders certainly isn't invisible....particularly not at the governance level. The church holds 6 seats on the schools board of trustees and one seat on the Executive Committee of the BOT.

It's also entirely possible that Coach Bridges went into this search with assurances to standing coaches (Raridon, Tharp, etc.) that he'd give them a graceful "out" if they were not chosen. 

Both Raridon and Tharp were fully aware of the coaching situation (no full-time assistants) before they ever threw their hats into the ring.  I'd be surprised if they were willing to expose themselves in the way they have with hopes of convincing Dennie to hire a full-time assistant when they got to the interview.

The practice of offering an "out" for candidates is both classy and not without precedent.

Nobody here has any interest in Huggins. He can't seem to graduate anyone. As for Riley, we're only interested if he can bring the Big Diesel with him for his final years of eligibility.

Also should note we have 4 fan buses going out including a 35 piece pep band. The buses will leave from the Shirk Center east parking lot at midnight on Thursday and will drive straight through. There is still some room on two of the buses. The cost is $110 which includes game tickets for all games. Buses will return on Sunday morning. Hotel rooms are reserved for those taking the buses. Prices range from $80 - $129/room. Contact the Alumni Office for reservations (309) 556-3093 or mbible@iwu.edu.

Tickets are available in the following ways:

Shirk Center:             Starting at 1:00 pm Tuesday
Ticketmaster:             www.ticketmaster.com
Salem Civic Center:    (540) 375-3004

Tickets being sold at the Shirk Center are in Section B6 and a student section in the endzone.