Football

UH President Khator creates footprint in athletics

Former head coach Guy Lewis (left) had high profile supporters like UH president Renu Khator (bottom right) and UH great Elvin Hayes (top right). Nichole Taylor/The Daily Cougar

UH president Renu Khator (bottom right) mingles with legendary former coach Guy V. Lewis (bottom left) shortly after he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Nichole Taylor/The Daily Cougar

When the UH football team takes on President Renu Khator’s previous school, the University of South Florida, on Halloween, fans should have no worries about where her loyalties lie.

She encouraged the team to “show no mercy at all” towards South Florida.

Khator said she can’t eat or sleep preceding a game. She tries to attend each home basketball and football game when she is in Houston.

Khator was present during ESPN’s College GameDay and said she will be in Springfield, Mass. when former coach Guy V. Lewis is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September.

The president sat down with The Daily Cougar to discuss her die-hard UH sports habits and why it’s important that a person in her position root for the sports at their university.

TDC: Why are sports valuable to a university?

RK: It’s the same reason why we invite lecturers, you know, distinguished speakers to come here, why we have these stellar programs the University puts (on). It is simply to get the students a comprehensive overall engaging experience of the University. Same way, I feel, athletics are.

TDC: Can you talk about sports’ value to getting the alumni base fired up where they might be more likely to make donations to the school?

RK: I mean, it starts — the engagement starts right from freshman year. Then it starts after people have graduated, with the alumni, and obviously it’s a great opportunity to engage the community.

For us, for University of Houston, it’s really a great opportunity to build the brand for the city. Because if you notice, for our football games, basketball games, it does not say “UH” — you know, any time the score board is there on national television. It says “Houston.” So while we are displaying our talent in athletics, we are also branding our city.

So I think definitely there is an engagement value, there is a value in long-term relationship, but there is a myth out there. People think, if you have athletics programs, then everybody will give to the athletics. It’s really doesn’t happen. Generally 10 to 15 percent of the funds come to athletics. But when the University becomes a place where people can feel pride, a lot of those donations do come, and float into academic programs. So I think having a very strong athletics that engages donors and alumni is really good for the whole University.

TDC: I know a lot of presidents aren’t as directly involved with sports — they aren’t as engaged in games as much as you are. Why do you feel like it’s important for you to be involved?

RK: Well, because I think I understand what athletics and sports, what they bring to the University as a whole. I mean, other than their entertainment value, I know how emotionally involved people can get. I can’t eat anything before a game, and depending on how the game is going, you know, my whole reaction, my whole body just responds in a different way — I feel really great joy, I feel great disappointments, you know — so it’s all, it’s truly, I would say, an all-out engaging experience.

Presidents have their own personal preferences. Some have their logic based on financing, some may have their logic based on where they’re located. I say, we are in Texas, we are in a great city in Texas, which has such a significant sports presence, and we are at a university that has always had a great legacy in sports.

TDC: At some universities you hear about strife between the athletic and academic communities. Do you think your presence in athletics — as well as people like professor Simon Bott — breaks down those barriers and brings people together?

RK: Well, it can happen sometimes, and people may not get the full picture — but I can tell you, I like to see the bridge between both athletics and academics, and I try to do it both ways. So, for instance, I went to visit the football team, and I told them the number one priority for me is that they are going to get their degrees, because they are student athletes — student first, and athlete later. So I want them to be successful as a student and then in their life. So I try to put the academic values in front of anybody and everybody who’s in athletics in the same way I try to bring the value that athletics have — I try to, you know, infuse that in our academic enterprise.

TDC: When I heard you speak at the groundbreaking, you talked about your hand in getting the new stadium built. That’s one of the things that people who have recruited against UH have talked about: the facilities. Why was it important for you to see that the new facilities come?

RK: The facilities have been a big part of my priorities anyway, because, you know, when you walk on this campus, I want you to feel that you have arrived at a place that’s welcoming, that’s inviting, that sees the future with you. And that’s what I feel that students should be able to feel. And in order to do that, that’s why we build.

It’s not just the stadium; we have put (in) a billion dollars’ worth of construction since I arrived here. There are 21 buildings, over six million square footage in construction. So athletics, to me, is just the same way.

I want everything to be nationally competitive. And I know in order for our sports to be nationally competitive, we ought to have the tools for our coaches, we ought to have the tools for our student athletes. And the facilities are important.

TDC: During your time as president, you have presided over some of the biggest moments in UH history – Guy V. Lewis getting elected, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler being selected to the NCAA’s 75th Anniversary team, Case Keenum’s season in 2011. How special was it for you to be around those teams?

RK: Super. It was like, for a second, you feel you are the star yourself because you are surrounded by all these big names and big stars. I felt so little in front of all of those — they are big guys anyway, but they are also big in terms of their accomplishments. I wanted to just go there and stop by because it was just a special moment. And it was a selfish interest, because I wanted to keep it in my heart.

TDC: How did you come to enjoy sports?

RK: I think sports are just really great fun. I didn’t go to a school where there was any sports program. But, you know, India has had a rich history of cricket and field hockey and soccer, and actually, India was — during my time, when I was growing up — they were champions in field hockey and in cricket. And I was a big, big fan and really obsessive about cricket and field hockey, both, actually. For cricket, you could have asked me at that time, any player, any score, anything, and I knew all of that. So I followed it very closely. So I think I had interest in sports, but of course, here it’s a different level. I love every minute of it.

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