Football Scores With L&C Community

Lewis & Clark will retain its football program and hopes to return to Northwest Conference action in fall 2006. Tom Hochstettler, president of the College, accepted a recent report from the commission on Football that “reaffirmed the importance of football and of other intercollegiate sports as vital elements within the life of the College.”

Hochstettler convened the commission in September to evaluate the College’s football program after Lewis & Clark shortened its 2005 season due to safety concerns stemming from low numbers on the team roster. The commission conducted an intensive seven-week evaluation, which included interviews and open forums to gather comments and feedback about the football program.

Among the commission’s findings:

• On the whole, the Lewis & Clark community supports the retention of football as an intercollegiate sport.
• Lewis & Clark must embrace, cultivate, and sustain a new emphasis on the athletic component for its community, since athletics and physical activity are essential for well-rounded development of students.
• Athletics offers a common ground for Lewis & Clark students to come together in a communal effort. 

The commission was chaired by Julio de Paula, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Members included Vivian Bull, former president of Linfield College; Michael Clary, director of athletics, Rhodes College; Luella Lilly ‘59, former director of women’s athletics, University of California at Berkeley; Leon Lunder, director of athletics, Carleton College; and Steve Wallo, then director of physical education and athletics, Lewis & Clark College. In addition, the commission included representatives from Lewis & Clark’s trustees, faculty, staff, student body, and alumni association.