The Kennesaw State University Department of Museums, Archives and Rare Books (MARB) presents exhibitions, public programs, archival collections, and educational services supporting KSU’s mission and encouraging dialogue about the past and its significance today. This online module is part of a series of modules designed for university students to explore pivotal moments in history through a diverse selection of source materials from our University Archives.
This module draws on yearbooks, student newspapers, oral histories, administrative and athletics records, memorabilia, and other materials to examine the topic of football at KSU. All images and primary source material used in this module are from the KSU Archives unless otherwise noted.
"most of our people in those earlier days at least were older -- working people, who wouldn't care about the athletic program.[...]"
First KJC President Horace Sturgis reflecting on the decision not to pursue intercollegiate athletics during his tenure. From Interviews with Horace W. Sturgis (1987), KSU Oral History Series.
Kennesaw State University was chartered in 1963 as Kennesaw Junior College (KJC), which held its first classes in 1966. As a junior college, KJC offered two year degrees in areas such as Business Administration, and many students were non-traditional students. While KJC did not participate in intercollegiate athletics, students organized intramural sports (including football) for recreation and socializing from the first year classes were offered.
Image: Intramural football pictured in The Sentinel (November 1971), Sentinel student newspaper collection.
"I knew enough about college athletics all over the United States, but particularly in Georgia, that if you had a football program at a place like Kennesaw [in the early 1980s], you didn’t have anything else because you didn’t have any money."
Excerpt from Interview with James Davis (Spec) Landrum, KSU Oral History Series.
KJC became a four year school in 1978, and was at that time renamed Kennesaw College (KC). In 1982, KC initiated intercollegiate athletics programs and joined the National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). President Betty Siegel and Athletics Director Spec Landrum chose to concentrate the school's efforts on just a few sports (basketball, baseball, and softball) rather than undertaking the expense of fielding a football team.
In 1988, KC was again renamed to Kennesaw State College (KSC). Between 1992 and 1995, KSC's growing student body resulted in a transition out of the NAIA to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a college and university athletic association with greater opportunities for larger schools.
Image: Members of the KSC softball team (1995), Talisman yearbook.
"I said, 'Dr. Siegel, starting football at the Division II level is just not worth it. We’re not going to get any publicity out of it. It’s going to cost us almost the same thing as it would if we went Division I. When we go Division I is when we need to start football.' So that was one of the things that prompted her to want to go Division I."
Interview with David L. Waples (2011), KSU Oral History Series.
KSC continued to grow in size, achieving university status and the name Kennesaw State University in 1996. While it had entered the NCAA as a Division II school, its growth in size and resources afforded KSU the opportunity to move into Division I in 2005. With this move, discussions began regarding the possibility of a football program at KSU.
Image: Cover of The Sentinel announcing KSU's move to NCAA Division I competition (Jan. 12, 2005), Sentinel student newspaper collection.
On December 10, 2009, Kennesaw State University announced the appointment of a Football Exploratory Committee headed by former UGA football coach Vince Dooley. The purpose of the Committee was to determine the feasibility of pursuing a football program at KSU.
In September 2010, the Committee announced that their findings supported moving forward with plans for a KSU football program.
Image: Access (Sept/Oct 2010), Office of the Vice President for Student Success records.
"Everybody agreed, we’d love to have football, but how are we going to pay for it?"
Athletic Director David Waples reflecting on KSU's discussions of a potential football program in the late 1990s. Excerpt from Interview with David L. Waples, KSU Oral History Series.
Along with other sources of funding, the addition of a football program would require a fee of $100 per student/per semester to initiate a football program and additional Title IX women’s sports. The Student Government Association (SGA) and the Office of the Vice President for Student Success conducted an SGA-led online vote in November 2010 to determine the level of student support for the additional programs and associated fees. President Daniel S. Papp conducted nine on-campus forums encouraging students, faculty, and staff to discuss the proposal prior to the vote.
Image: Design concepts for the football forums advertising campaign (2010), Office of the Vice President for Student Success records.
In November 2010, 55.5% of participating students voted to support the additional programs and increased fee. This support was affirmed by the KSU Student Fee Committee in October 2012, and the SGA reaffirmed their support for the proposal in January 2013.
"If the students had not voted positively and substantially in favor of financially supporting football, we would not have football on this campus."
Excerpt from Interview with Vice President for Student Success Jerome Ratchford (2015), KSU Oral History Series.
Student support for the increased fee, as well as commitments of financial support from external sources, allowed President Papp to present the request to the University System of Georgia (USG) Board of Regents in early 2013. Dr. Papp argued that football would benefit recruitment, retention and graduation rates, institutional branding, and fundraising.
Image: Access (Nov/Dec 2010), Office of the Vice President for Student Success records.
In 2013, KSU recruited Brian Bohannon to serve as the first head coach of the new football program and announced that they would be joining the NCAA's Division I Big South athletic conference. The inaugural 29 members of the KSU football team were signed and announced in February 2014.
Image: Football introduction event at KSU Convocation Center (Feb. 2013), excerpt from the Sentinel student newspaper collection.
Repercussions of the creation of a football program included the establishment of the Marching Owls and an increased interest in associated tailgating and spirit events. Local newspapers reported that Kennesaw restaurants and shops felt football could be a potential boon to their business, and speculated that the program could put an end to KSU's decades-long identity as a commuter school.
Image: Button (circa 2014) from the Athletics Football Collection.
Selected KSU Archives Digital Resources
Materials from the following archival collections were used throughout this module. Click on the links below to explore the collections in our Scholarly Online Access Repository.
Image: Cover of Sentinel commemorative football issue (2013), Sentinel student newspaper collection.
Visit our website to learn more about the collections and resources available from the KSU Archives.
Credits:
All images from the Kennesaw State University Archives.