Is "incomplete" grade for Ms Freeman too generous?

The guys on the Lafayette Sports Fan Forum are preparing for the opening game of the new football season, but in the midst of everything, they have come up with an interesting chat on the first half year’s performance by director of athletics Sherryta Freeman.

Her task was going to be anything but easy.

At the time she was hired as the successor to retired Bruce McCutcheon, Lafayette coaches and alumni were awaiting the results of what was thought to be an extensive review of the entire college athletics program.

The report’s release had already been extended twice, and at this point, it’s still known by only a select few. Sounds like a big waste of money right now.

Not much of consequence has happened since Ms Freeman took over. Back in May, she told me she would have a five-year strategic plan by the end of the summer. Sept. 21 is the final day of summer.

I don’t have any skin in the game at Lafayette, but 10 years on the football beat and many earlier years covering the Leopards have given me access to lots of people who are close to the program.

A number of them have contributed to various “Friends of …” groups. Some, big bucks. But I thought I’d weigh in on the mid-term grade thing. So, here are my thoughts.

Ms Freeman took a job at an institution that was more than a year into some kind of review of its entire athletics program. RED FLAG.

She was not given the opportunity to review any documentation during the interview process. RED FLAG.

She was not given direct-report access to the college president RED FLAG.

It was not until nearly half a year after she was hired that she introduced herself for the first time to a major donor to the No. 1 sport under her care. I saw that for myself, and that was a major mistake. She didn’t apologize for it. RED FLAG.

She jettisoned another one of the college's major alumni donor/supporters from his position as a chairman of a “Friends of …” group for a reason I have yet to see explained. I will never understand this one. RED FLAG.

I'm told she was given a salary that puts her in the middle of the Patriot League ADs.

If that's the case, it seems the college has not gotten its money's worth -- or maybe paid way too much for an asset it doesn't choose to use.

Where's all the wisdom she should have gained in her years at Temple, Dartmouth and Penn?

Are her hands tied, or is she being given bad information from somewhere?

Or, doesn’t she have the confidence to stand up for things she knows could make things better?

I expected more, but I have no idea the inside challenges she faces.

But I know one of her main tasks should be to mend fences with influential and formerly-supportive alums who have jumped ship.

In that area, she’s flunking at the midpoint of her year.

Oh, the alumni still care. A lot. And they are more involved with their sports than she seems to be. But putting their money where their hearts are? Uhhh …

But because I think she doesn’t want to fail at Lafayette and see her potential for a bigger job go down the drain, I’ll give her an “I” for incomplete and hope for better in the coming months.