Phillips was named the AD of the Year at the '18 Sports Business Awards in MayMarc Bryan-Brown
Northwestern AD Jim Phillips has been on a "fundraising and construction roll that rivals the booming Old West," according to Rick Telander of the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. Phillips noted that NU has raised more than $440M over the last four years and mentioned the new $270M "lakefront sports facility," $120M refurbishing of Welsh-Ryan Arena, and new venues for soccer, lacrosse, tennis and more as examples of successful fundraising. Phillips, SBJ's '18 AD of the Year, said, "This is a moment in time that Northwestern can be proud of." Telander notes Phillips "invited NU's entire undergraduate student body, roughly 8,000 students, to come" to NU's Big Ten championship game Dec. 1 in Indianapolis against either Michigan or Ohio State "for free." Nobody has "ever done something like that at a major college." An anonymous donor has already offered to "buy all the needed tickets," while the school has "kicked in the transportation and food costs." Phillips said, "I thought maybe we'd get a thousand students. But over 3,500 are going. We have 58 buses from a dozen companies. I don't think there's a bus left in Chicago." Telander notes Phillips had to "cut off the requests last week because there were literally no more buses to be had." Phillips said that is still 45% of the student body going (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 11/21).
