Here is a letter sent to the the new Athletic Director Heather Lyke soon after she was hired by the university back in 2017. This was done by one of our readers (who doesn’t comment) who thought since we had just sent our own Pitt POV letter to E. J. Borghetti we might want to read his own version. Remember – this is five and a half years old and is a rather long piece…

Dear Ms. Lyke:

Congratulations on being named the new Athletic Director at the University of Pittsburgh. I have never written a letter such as this but would appreciate your consideration of the information set forth below.

First, by way of introduction, I attended the University of Pittsburgh from 1986 to 1990. Simply put, I love Pitt. Very few institutions in the U.S. have the combination of an outstanding academic reputation, coupled with Division I athletics, in a very vibrant city with Midwestern values. I point this out because I believe Pitt can, and should be viewed as an academic and athletic national powerhouse.

Pitt is not a large land grant or state flagship university. Very few schools, however, have the remarkable academic and athletic history of Pitt. The list of accomplishments is second to none. Unfortunately, though, I believe Pitt has underachieved in exploiting this history, as well as its academic and athletic potential, on a national scale.

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