As a former player and captain of the men’s tennis team I feel obligated to refute Mr. Corran’s logic of “excellence”. His justification to destroy the athletic dreams of young women and men was not lost in translation: more money equals more scholarships, equals excellence(E=m2).

I would like to offer a more personal and humane definition of excellence that will hopefully reflect the values and the ideals that I was taught by my teachers and coaches while I was a student-athlete at UVM. True excellence in sports and in the classroom is NOT an abstract GPA number or a win-lose record of an athletic team. It is the daily effort that counts, the curiosity which young men and women of this institution exhibit to enhance themselves personally and socially. Excellence, Mr. Director, is not born in bigger facilities, ESPN broadcasts or the cat-pride store. It evolves in the spirit of a team and the love for the sport which make each student-athlete ?excellent?.

A recent immigrant to Vermont, I was motivated daily by my coach and my teammates to create a new life in a foreign community that embraced me with open arms and made me alive again during the weekly tennis drills I learned to love. Mr. Corran, that is the EXCELLENCE of this school, that is the EXCELLENCE of the men’s tennis team and mostly, that is the EXCELLENCE of the human beings who call themselves UVM-ers.(And it will never be for sale!)

Zeljko KnezevicAlumni 2003