CFA: Important Update
CFA Friends of Football,
Thank you for your support!
The CFA has received the following communique from the Cornell University Office of University Counsel and we wanted to inform you of this and subsequent actions which have been taken by the CFA Board of Directors.
On November 14, 2015 and with the University’s consent and encouragement the CFA proceeded forward in the formation of a not for profit corporation and obtained tax exempt status under IRC 501(c)(3). This was done in an open, honest and transparent way, and with the full support of the University. The collaborative manner with which we set out to work with the university was designed to benefit our football program through increased budget capacity and direct targeted financial support.
During this time period, the CFA has provided significant support to our football program, the players and the overall game day experience. We were instrumental in the formulation of the “CFA – White Paper”; a comprehensive and collaborative agreement which detailed the most critical issues to advance Cornell Football. Further, we endeavored to promote Coach Archer’s “Cornell Victorious Plan” designed as a road map for our rebuilding process. Along the way, we boosted membership above 700 members, raised significant monies to support the program, pre-game tailgates, post-game player meals, CFA Awards Day, IFA Dinner-Receptions, Player Gear, Senior Player Receptions, CFA Career Day NYC, CFA Career Weekend, pre-game player meals, alumni receptions and reunion weekend activities. We met with University Compliance Personnel, provided NCAA Compliance educational materials to our constituency, updated the CFA website to ensure NCAA compliance and complied with NCAA University mandated financial audits over the same time period without problems. Finally, the CFA entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“It’s Time Challenge”) with the University on December 19, 2017 to raise $3M over a five year period. In short, we have worked hard to help positively affect and improve those areas we felt could make a real difference to our football program.
Since our inception, the Athletic Director and Head Football Coach have been members of the CFA Board of Directors (Ex-Officio) and have been formally invited to participate in all CFA Board Meetings. They, along with University Administrators have been invited to speak and attend numerous CFA sponsored events. All of this was done to promote the positive aspects our football program brings to the entire University community.
Our efforts to meet the University’s demand for “Institutional Control” were not successful despite our best good faith efforts. Ultimately, we chose not to give up complete control of all our activities, affairs and finances. While we are not happy with the University’s position, and their unwillingness to accept any financial support, we have decided to maintain our independent status. Naturally, we will comply with their request and hope that the University will find a way to work collaboratively with us in the future.
We are proud of the work we have done and will continue to do. In the meantime; please be advised that the CFA is now a web based organization which will promote camaraderie of the Big Red football family through activities and information dissemination. We will not donate any money to our football program until the University goals align with our own, and a proper plan is laid out to reach this objective. We hope that you will continue to support the CFA and our efforts to improve our football program.
Football Record Since 1999: 2 winning seasons | Overall winning percentage 35.6% | Ivy League winning percentage 34.2% | Last 10 seasons overall winning percentage 28% | Last 10 seasons Ivy League winning percentage 25.7% – RESULTS MATTER!
Sincerely,
The CFA Board of Directors
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