Dr. Sands is a highly intelligent person. His goals seemingly are directed toward making VT the "Cal Berkley of East." As they should be, diversity, inclusion, and "social justice" are important to him, but at the expense of lowering academic performance required for admission? Perhaps he believes that football is no more or less important than any other sport or activity on Tech's campus and therefore should be funded accordingly. I hope you are right in that change is coming, but I fear the current Board of Visitors agrees with Sand's positions.
We can blame Coach Fu, Whit, or anyone else for the disappointing results in football, but the buck begins and ends with Sands. There exists a good balance among a school's social, academic, and athletic programs, and Sands needs to find it. Until he does, we can expect our football program to be less than stellar; perhaps even less than average. When Tech played for the national championship in 1999, applications for admission soared. When you get lots of applicants, you have a higher chance of getting better students. Where are we now? Prominence in football or basketball helps attract some of the best students. Dr. Sands should realize this, but is unlikely to change his positions unless he is forced to do so. Tech needs another Paul Torgerson.