At panel, Anderson winds up on the defensive

Athletic Director Kevin Anderson began last night as one of four panelists in what was supposed to be a discussion about the coverage of recent sexual abuse allegations at Penn State and Syracuse. Before long, Anderson himself became the center of attention as the topic of conversation quickly turned from the media to the eight athletics teams cut last month and football coach Randy Edsall's 2-10 season.

More than 50 people attended the panel sponsored by the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism titled, "College Sports in Turmoil: What is the Media Missing?" last night in Knight Hall, but many of them were more interested in hearing what's ailing Terrapins sports.

In the question-and-answer portion of the event, students, parents and fans fired question after question at Anderson: What is being done to repair finances within the athletics department? Why is men's basketball coach Mark Turgeon experiencing more success than Edsall? Can anything be done to save the cut teams?

Anderson had an answer for each.

"We needed to look at this in longevity to make sure [cutting teams] won't ever happen again," Anderson said. "We're saving to guarantee as much as possible that we won't have this again. … The reality is that we're living in a bad economy now. We did some things when the economy was more robust, but right now, we have a recession, so we have to be more conservative, so that's how we built this model."

A man claiming to be the father of a university student-athlete on a team in jeopardy asked Anderson what he was doing to try to save the eight programs likely to be cut.

"We've restructured our fundraising so it is more predicated on volunteers," Anderson responded. "I've taken two full-time people that are dedicated to raising money to save the sports, as well. We're taking a wider, broader approach."

Anderson explained that he is modeling his fundraising approach after President Barack Obama's during his election campaign in 2008, using social media to spread the word and raise money.

"There are people that can get behind this entire program to raise the money," said Anderson, who added that he hopes state residents and alumni will be quick to contribute to the fundraising. "The worst thing besides having family members die was having to go around and tell those teams there might not be a program. It was terrible. It sucked."

Panelist Libby Sander of The Chronicle of Higher Education said a university's money-making sports — football and basketball — invariably affect a school's nonrevenue sports, especially when their revenue diminishes.

"An athletics department has more teams than just football and basketball," Sandler said. "It's worth asking how those budgets are affecting other sports. I mean, it's happening on your campus now."

The athletics department's budget crisis was far from the only target for those on hand last night. Anderson fielded several questions, including one from moderator and university journalism professor Kevin Blackistone, addressing Edsall's inaugural campaign in College Park.

But Anderson, as he has done throughout this season and offseason, was quick to defend his first-year coach.

"Right now I have a football coach who hasn't become a darling of the media," he said.

In a later question, Anderson added: "Randy wants things a certain way. It's safe to say that this year we have made mistakes. We're talking about different approaches now, so I think in the future there will be different approaches."

Those approaches have yet to be determined, he said.

Panelist Jeff Barker, who covers Terps sports for The Baltimore Sun, said Edsall could earn more goodwill with the media if he opens up access the way Turgeon has with his program, noting the coach's willingness to allow reporters to speak with Ukrainian freshman center Alex Len.

"What Edsall does is similar to politics, and I understand what he's doing, but I respectfully disagree with it," Barker said. "[The football team] would get more coverage if they participated in human-interest stories like the [Len] story."

Questions regarding media coverage of the Penn State and Syracuse scandals dotted the approximately 90-minute question-and-answer section, but audience members, time and again, circled back to Anderson and this university's own controversies.

"I think it's remarkable what [university journalism professor George Solomon] was able to put together and I am really humbled to be a part of it," Anderson said after the event. "The questions were fair and they were dictated by where we are as a university right now. I try to be honest and open about everything. Coming here, I knew there would be difficult questions asked."

Solomon, who organized the event with Blackistone, said afterward that, like Anderson, he thought the questions were justified.

"I thought the questions were great and the panel offered a wide variety of opinions and really deep thoughts that really made us think," Solomon said. "And that's why we're here."

Some students who attended were also quick to notice the attention heaped on Anderson at an event meant to critique media coverage of other, larger scandals in the sporting realm.

"I thought it was interesting, but I definitely noticed a lot of questions geared toward [Anderson]," said Laura Blasey, a freshman journalism major. "But I thought they were appropriate. Students have the right to ask all these questions."

egan@umdbk.com