Reed-Francois is pleased with UNLV balancing the budget. and achieving record corporate philanthropyGETTY IMAGES
UNLV AD Desiree Reed-Francois, who recently completed her second full year on the job, said the school has "grown our Rebel Athletic Fund membership by about 30 percent," and they are "up 242 percent this year alone in men's basketball season tickets," according to a Q&A with Mike Grimala of the LAS VEGAS SUN. On other progress UNLV has made under her leadership, Reed-Francois said, "We’re at our highest GPA in the history of UNLV athletics, and I’m proud of that." She added, "We have $2.04 billion in facilities projects that are going to be transformational. ... We've been able to balance the budget. ... [and] we've achieved record corporate philanthropy." When asked how the athletics department is listening to the fans and local community, Reed-Francois said, "One thing fans told us they wanted was these all-you-can-eat plans, so we have those new ticket packages. We have the Faithful Fan initiative, and that’s been really successful. We’re up 429 percent in (new) football season tickets because of that Faithful Fan initiative." On what her priorities are for next year, she said, "I want to finish our final season at Sam Boyd Stadium strong. We want to evaluate the next steps for Sam Boyd Stadium, and the transition into the Las Vegas Stadium is critical. We want to continue improving our game day experience for our fans" (LAS VEGAS SUN, 6/23).
