WARMUP
BEHIND THE BENCH
WHAT IS AN ENDOWED COACH? YOU HAVE QUESTIONS. WE HAVE THE ANSWERS.
all kinds of Xavier clubs and initiatives. The Thomas E. Sedler Award, which honors a male and female senior studentathlete for hard work and enthusiasm, is named after him. In 2008, he was honored with Xavier’s Founders’ Day Award.
BY SUE VONDERHAAR
M
Q: So what’s in this for the Sedlers? Greater access? More influence? To
MEN’S BASKETBALL COACH CHRIS MACK HAS A NEW JOB TITLE. AND IT’S A DOOZY. Thanks to a generous donation from longtime Xavier supporters Tom and Genny Sedler, the title of men’s head basketball coach has been renamed the Sedler Family Men’s Head Basketball Coach. It is the first endowed coaching position at Xavier. All of which, we are sure, raises a few questions for Musketeer fans. Let us try to help. Q: What exactly is a coaching endowment? It’s a hefty donation used to help pay a coach’s
salary in perpetuity. The amount of the Sedlers’ donation isn’t public, but it is the largest gift ever bestowed on XU’s men’s basketball program. From now on, says Xavier Athletic Director Greg Christopher, money that had been used to pay the men’s head basketball coach salary can be funneled into other areas of need, such as the recruiting budget. Moreover, he says, the extra money “will make sure we have competitive salaries for our assistant coaches.”
the average outsider, Christopher says, “a gift like this may look like the Sedlers have more influence than the average fan. But anyone who knows the Sedlers knows this was done because they love Xavier and they love Xavier basketball.” After all, he says, Tom Sedler already makes brownies for the team after every game. Sedler himself says the donation isn’t just about the game, though. Noting the influence the head coach has on molding young men to be champions and productive Xavier graduates, he says it’s about retaining the best leadership and “supporting the Xavier way.”
Q: How does such an endowment work? The donation is invested by the
university, and the annual returns are used for the endowment’s stated purpose—in this case a coach’s salary. Many universities, including Xavier, rely on endowment funds to help pay for scholarships, academic programs, and faculty positions. Xavier’s endowment fund is valued at more than $152.6 million. Harvard’s, at more than $30 billion, is the country’s largest. Q: What safeguards are built in to ensure the fund won’t shrink if we’re hit with another bad recession? Most endowments have spending guidelines
that govern how much of each year’s investment income can be spent. The spending policy for the Sedler endowment, Christopher says, is 4.5 percent. Any surplus gains will be reinvested into the fund to grow the principal and weather any economic slumps.
endowments are a fast-growing trend, and not just for head coaches. The practice started in the Ivy League and has spread to many schools across the country, including Stanford, Boston College, Duke, Notre Dame, and Michigan. Q: Who are the Sedlers and what is their connection to Xavier? The Sedlers
bleed Xavier blue, through and through. Tom Sedler, president and CEO of Home City Ice, is a 1958 Xavier graduate, and the Sedlers’ four sons—Tommy, Ted, Tim, and Terry—also graduated from Xavier. In 2010, the family helped launch XU’s Sedler Family Center for Experiential Learning in Business, and Tom Sedler, a member of the President’s Advisory Council, has been active in
2 0 X AV I E R N AT I O N | S P R I N G 2 0 1 5
GENEROUS GIFT: Tom and Genny Sedler are long-time Xavier supporters.
XavierNationMagazine.com
P H OT O G R A P H B Y B O B S T E V E N S
Q: Do other universities have endowments just for coaches? Coaching