Founders Day 2011

Founders Day 2011

5:30 p.m. Monday, May 9

OSU Golf Club

3609 Tremont Road, Upper Arlington

                                              Courtesy Columbus Dispatch | By Lisa Marie Miller

Guest speaker: Ohio State’s Gene Smith, director of the largest collegiate athletic department in the country. Smith presides over a department that supports 36 sports and more than 1000 athletes, with an annual operating budget in excess of $80 million a year. Nearly half of that is spent on the Buckeyes football program, which has won or shared the Big Ten title and earned a berth in a BCS bowl game every year since Smith was hired in 2005.

But it’s not all been trophies and accolades. The past few months have been perhaps the most difficult of Smith’s OSU tenure. He endured the so-called TattooGate scandal that’s ensnared football coach Jim Tressel and five of his star players in an illegal benefits NCAA violation. He also was the target of some criticism in March as the chair of the NCAA Men’s Basketball “March Madness” selection committee.

After hearing from Smith, the chapter will present college scholarships, high school journalism awards and its First Amendment, Brick Wall, Distinguished Service and Appreciation awards.

Dinner • Cash bar • Silent auction

Tickets are $30. Reservation deadline: midnight, May 3.
The evening starts at 5:30 p.m. with a cash bar and networking, followed by dinner and the program at 6:30 p.m.