The wages of D1 football ....

Again, tell me why a military academy needs to mimic all the sleeze of a major university? Seriously?

How many years have we warned about the integrity destroying, corrosive nature of a mindless focus on D1 football - a place where a Service Academy has no reason being?

Well; behold.

From our buds over at NavyTimes (again!) Andrew and Phil,

The IG’s probe found that a fund set up by the academy’s business services division to cover many entertainment expenses was “an unauthorized, off-the-books account that is improper on its face. Its existence is a sham, and it was used much as in the business definition of a ‘slush fund,’ i.e., to pay for things from a pool of money with little accountability required,” IG concluded.

The fund was created in April 2007, using about $95,000 of corporate sponsorship money that the academy received for participation in the 2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl football game, the IG report said.

The wages of slush ...

A sprawling financial scandal at the Naval Academy — involving extravagant parties and a “slush fund” — was an embarrassment that helped lead to an early exit for the school’s superintendent, Navy Times has learned.

Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler faced “administrative action” in April as a result of a year-long Naval Inspector General’s investigation, said Rear Adm. Denny Moynihan, the Navy’s top spokesman.
...
Navy Times received a copy of the investigation report Monday afternoon after a longstanding Freedom of Information Act request. Moynihan spoke later Monday afternoon in response to queries about the report.

The IG investigation found that Naval Academy officials working under Fowler had created a “sham” bank account that helped fund things like a $10,000 party for the academy’s golf association and $1,000 worth of wine for a dinner party at the superintendent’s house.
...
• Annual spending of $400,000 or more for academy-sponsored tailgate events at football bowl games over the past six years.

• Spending $157,000 to purchase an 18-wheel tractor trailer truck for the academy’s football team.

• Spending $325,000 to purchase an antique airplane model that hangs in the front entrance to Dahlgren Hall.

• Spending $3,715,187 on video production services to create recruiting videos.

• Spending several million dollars to renovate the dining facilities of the Naval Academy Club and the Club at Greenbury Point.

Also as a result of the investigation, Robert Parsons, the academy’s deputy for finance, was given a five-day suspension without pay, Moynihan said.

A third official, whose name was not released, was also reprimanded, Moynihan said.

Some of the above is debatable on either side - but where is the alumni association or foundation? At most major universities, that is where those gifts come from - but; did you see that? I fell into the trap as well.

The United States Naval Academy is NOT a major university. It is a Service Academy where you happen to get a Bachelor's degree from.

It needs to focus on its core mission - building leaders. All else is vanity. If you want D1 football and fancy alumni facilities - then do what I did; go NROTC at a major university.