Greg Byrne was named Arizona's 11th Director of Athletics in March 2010 and officially started in that role on May 3, 2010. Since then, Byrne has helped Arizona Athletics maintain its proud position both nationally and in the Pac-12 through the department’s five goals and principles: Graduate Student-Athletes; Follow the Rules; Represent the University and Athletics Department in a First-Class Manner; Practice Sound Fiscal Management; and Compete for Championships. In addition, Byrne has spent most of his tenure focused on new fundraising initiatives, member expansion for the Wildcat Club and facility upgrades.

 

Under his leadership, the Wildcats have seen construction completed on the $72 million Lowell-Stevens Football Facility, the addition of two video boards in Arizona Stadium, and a new scoreboard in the McKale Center. The athletics department also finished off Phase I of an overall $80 million renovation project for McKale. At a cost of $30 million, Phase I included upgraded seating, hand rails, enhanced lighting and a new playing floor. In addition, the renovation addressed amenities and upgrades that include concessions, restrooms and locker rooms for men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and sand volleyball.

 

Byrne also put forth a bold plan in 2011 to relocate the Arizona baseball program from its on-campus facility to an iconic minor league ballpark located in the heart of midtown Tucson. The transition to Hi Corbett Field instantly upgraded the program’s facilities and amenities available to fans. In 2012, the Wildcats hosted NCAA regional and super regional tournaments for the first time in 20 years en route to capturing the school’s fourth national championship. Average attendance in the first two years at the stadium nearly tripled with two of the program’s top-three total attendance figures being reported.

 

Prior to coming to Arizona, Byrne was Mississippi State University's Director of Athletics, where he was the youngest athletic administrator in the Southeastern Conference and the youngest to lead an athletic program at the NCAA Division I-A level. He started out his career at MSU in June 2006 as Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs.

 

Byrne has been around successful athletic programs, and the director's chair, literally all his life. He is the son of long-time athletic administrator Bill Byrne, who has over 30 years of experience as a director of athletics.

 

Byrne, however, has made a name for himself in intercollegiate athletics. He had 15 years of professional experience prior to assuming the AD's position, a resume that shows progressive growth in both responsibility and achievement. He has been directly involved in raising over $200 million in gifts during his career in athletics.

 

A native of Pocatello, Idaho, Byrne earned his bachelor's degree in 1994 and his master's degree from Mississippi State in 2009. Byrne is married to the former Regina Misa of Junction City, Ore., and the couple has two sons, Nick and Davis.

 

If you missed the meeting this week, be advised we had another very interesting and informative program. TED KIRACOFE introduced us to Lance Jungmeyer, President of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas. Lance did a great job informing us of the importance of the Mexican Produce industry to the state of Arizona, with particular emphasis on the importance of the Port of Nogales as an entry point for nearly one third of all the Mexican produce imported into the U.S.  If you are counting, that equates to approximately 56 billion pounds a year. In economic terms, that’s about $3 billion annually in trade, having a direct economic impact in Santa Cruz county of about $500M annually. So eat more tomatoes, avocados and cucumbers!

 

Big congratulations to DORINNA YORK, who was honored as RCOT’s latest Honorary Member. DORINNA is very deserving and I, for one, am happy to see her receive this honor.

 

JOHN LEWIS introduced our newest member, DIANA CANNON, congratulations DIANA!  And, KATHY KITAGAWA presented MARIE LOGAN with her very own blue badge.  Congratulations to MARIE!

 

A Happy Birthday shout-out goes to CONRAD PLIMPTON, who is supporting vocational training and JTIP with his donation. I’m personally a big believer and supporter of vocational training, so was happy to hear about CONRAD’s interest and support in these essential programs.

 

In closing, let me say my favorite produce from Mexico is the Blue Agave plant. You may not see a lot of the actual plants crossing the border, however partaking of the nectar from the Blue Agave, commonly known as Tequila, is certainly one of five fruits and vegetable items I plan to eat this Saturday… Cheers and have a great week!

 

 

For all the obvious reasons, Rotary clubs constantly talk about finding additional qualified members to add to our ranks. Early in that discussion, you will likely hear the word “young” put forth as a qualifier to describe a desirable candidate. That’s a relatively recent approach. Forty years ago, it was not without justification that “elderly” was applied as a non-pejorative description of a Rotarian.

 

Why this emphasis on those in their twenties and thirties? What are the advantages to Rotary?

 

Historically, it would appear that Rotary could sustain its membership levels, at least in the USA, notwithstanding the lower number of younger members in many clubs. Theoretically, you can replace departing Rotarians with 40+ year-old new Rotarians indefinitely – we aren’t likely to run short of those older than forty anytime soon.

 

But are there factors beyond sheer numbers that come into play? What if the traditional age groups making up the pool of potential Rotarians have become less likely to join a service club, or any volunteer group? What if increased access to travel hampers people’s ability to participate in a membership organization? It is not impossible to imagine factors outside of population distribution that could cause Rotary to find it advantageous to change its criteria for new member recruiting.

 

Yes, the largest percentage of the US population is in the age range 20-35. Don’t forget the second greatest percentage of adults is in the span 45-59. And no one would likely claim those older than sixty or in the 35-45 group should be ignored as possible Rotarians. Yet there is this focus on the young. That focus may be more than simply a means to make the recruitment roles larger.

 

With the accelerated pace of technological progress, not having young persons – who usually dominate over their elders as early-adopters – can leave a group hindered in serving all its members. There are, undeniably, skills and abilities exclusive (or nearly so) to the young, just as there are skills, abilities and experiences almost exclusively available from the not-so-young. We benefit from all.

 

More than in times past, Rotary emphasizes orientation, training and mentorship of new members. Being entirely practical, the return on investment in those initial efforts can extend for years longer if the rookie is younger rather than older.

 

The young in 2015, more than their counterparts in 1980, have a bit more freedom of time scheduling, via flex time, work-at-home, and customers located across the world. And they have an advantage in access to crowd-sourcing, which didn’t exist in terminology and barely in reality a couple of decades ago. These are enormously helpful to a Rotarian trying to make a difference within the club and across the world.

 

Beyond the advantages young members can bring to their club, they can indirectly help Rotary in expanding service. As RI moves from an era of “silent” help to those in need toward making sure people everywhere know what we stand for, having young members will generate street credibility among non-Rotarians in the same age demographic. Seeing your peers as “cool” in their Rotary work, generates more acceptance of – and interest in – Rotary by twenty- and thirty-somethings.

 

Let’s make bringing it a more age-diverse membership something we want to do more than something we have to do. We might just gain a bundle in talent, efficiency, longevity, and relations with the nations of our world.

It is that time of year when Rotary Clubs begin to think about “recruiting” a student who wants to experience another culture and represent their Country and their Rotary Club by going to a foreign country for one year.  Rotary’s Youth Exchange program is the premier student exchange program and like the Rotary brand, it is the best exchange program in the world.  So what does it take?  Most students will be entering their junior or senior year of high school.  Students with an inner desire to travel and experience new cultures and make new friends are the best candidates.  These are lifetime experiences for a young person and it is one of Rotary’s best programs to promote world peace and building goodwill and better friendships.  Rotary’s RYE program is probably the lowest cost exchange program amongst student exchange programs.  The program is run entirely by volunteers.  This year, we had students go to Taiwan, France, Germany, and Brazil.  RYE students do not have to be from Rotary families.  The way the program works is if we send a student outbound, we will be hosting an inbound student.  Once again, non Rotarian families are welcome to host students.  We just saw the power of the program this past week with Drew Vactor’s RYE “grandchild”.  Drew and Kandie have been lifetime friends with their RYE student from almost 30 years ago.  Susan and I have lifetime connections with three of the students we have hosted, and I suspect we will one day be introducing our own “RYE grandchild”. 

 

For more information to provide a possible outbound candidate, please contact Tom Andrews or Dave Gallaher.