Nov. 21, 2012
Dear Knights Fans:
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope each and every one of you has the opportunity to enjoy this holiday with family and friends.
UCF Athletics certainly has plenty to be grateful for during this Thanksgiving holiday. As always, we're thankful for the support we receive from you on a daily basis.
We're thankful for the young men and women we get to work with each and every day. We are thankful they chose to wear the Black and Gold and represent this great university in the classroom and on the national stage of intercollegiate athletics. We are thankful for our success so far this fall following last year's success of finishing 55th among nearly 300 NCAA Division I institutions in the Learfield Sports Directors Cup.
In football, the Knights will have the opportunity to win the Conference USA East Division championship this weekend, which would in turn give them an opportunity to play for a record third C-USA Championship. Our women's soccer team won the Conference USA Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth consecutive season. This past weekend, the UCF volleyball team reached the Conference USA Championship match. To open the basketball season, the Knights picked up a big, rivalry victory over USF.
Academically, our student athletes continue to perform with distinction earning conference and national recognition for their achievements. Among our football team, which is playing its home finale Saturday, 11 Knights have already graduated and six are currently in graduate school, which is representative of the 400-plus student athletes we have in our 16 programs.
We are thankful to be associated with a vibrant and dynamic institution with its close to 60,000 exceptional students and their support of this athletics program.
We are thankful to be part of one of the great stories in higher education. Through Dr. Hitt's leadership, UCF has become an academic and research leader in the central Florida region and with the addition of our Medical School and the development of Medical City, UCF's role as an engine for economic growth and innovation will continue to expand.
Finally, as my wife Karen and I sit down to dinner with family and friends on our back patio this Thanksgiving Day we have to be thankful for living where we do -- Orlando, Fla., where it will be 70 degrees and sunny. Now that's something to be thankful for.
While this is obviously a time of great uncertainty in the world of college athletics, it is important that we not lose sight of who we are, what we are, where we are, and where we are going as a program, an institution and a region. I'm confident that UCF is currently and will continue to be in a better position than ever and I'm excited about the future of UCF Athletics and the Big East Conference.
Karen and I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and look forward to seeing you Saturday.
Go Knights,
Todd Stansbury
UCF Vice President & Director of Athletics