LAST WORD

Garin Veris, co-director of fundraising for UNH athletics (and former New England Patriot), is making a big push to get the business community involved. Amy Root-Donle photo

Intentionally or not, Garin Veris knows how to draw a crowd. After all, he told me he's a "people person" and his personable nature is backed up by an impressive resume: a Stanford University graduate; a former professional football player with the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers who played in the Patriots first Super Bowl appearance in 1986; a law school graduate, and recreation director for the city of Boston.

So when Veris, a second-team all-American defensive lineman who also served as an athletic fund-raiser for Stanford and Marquette, expressed interest in becoming an athletic fund-raiser for the University of New Hampshire, more than a few eyebrows were raised — and around 30 people showed up for his interview.

They wanted to know, "Why are you interviewing for this position?" But it wasn't surprising. Veris was, to put it politely, mightily overqualified for an impossible job in a state where supporting college-level anything, much less athletics, is considered a sinful waste of tax money by many state politicians. (Example: A few years ago, a frustrated state legislator told me that the attitude of too many legislators in Concord is one of wishing the state's university system could be sold to private investors so they could wash their hands of the whole thing — not unlike toll roads that have been sold in other states.)

In other words, almost every state in the union supports their university athletic programs with more vigor, passion, and dollars than New Hampshire. In other places where college football or basketball are treated as quasi-religious experiences, having a high-priced coach in Alabama or Texas, one paid as much as 10 times more than the state governor, is a normal state of affairs. And anyone aware of the overall state of UNH's athletic facilities knows they are on par with a run-down high school — from the 1950s. The growing success of the UNH football program has highlighted the almost embarrassing lack of modern amenities such as bathrooms, concessions and a little comfort at Cowell Stadium.

Veris, who joined the UNH staff last December as co-director of athletic fund-raising, told me he loves the challenge of creating something that hasn't existed before and establishing a positive legacy for the future. A positive attitude is a requirement. Among many tasks, he and equally new co-director Brenda Holt-Mullaney are determined to broaden an anemic donor base from alumni and the private sector for UNH college athletic scholarships, facilities and to enhance a miniscule endowment.

"I was a little naïve," said Veris, who works in an old field house office that lacks air conditioning, about what he got himself into. "It's a tough environment and I sometimes feel like I'd rather have the pads on." He has heard about the "New Hampshire way" (frugality to the point of starvation) and plans to turn the tide by doing what really hasn't been done before — changing the perception of UNH athletics by placing it as an integral part of the college experience and something of which to be proud.

"We have 600 student athletes and 90 percent of them graduate," said Veris, who plans to speak to every Rotary club, chamber of commerce and business group to spread the word. For example, did you know that the gymnastics team has made the NCAA tournament 26 years in a row? I didn't. With the exception of some hockey players and even fewer football players, these student athletes are heading out into the work force to work, in many instances, for readers of Ventures.

"As a former student athlete, I know what they are going through," Veris said. "I see these kids come in and out of field house and know how hard they are working. It means a lot for them to know there is somebody who cares about them."

Veris said the immediate goal is to increase scholarship fund-raising from $200,000 to $500,000 and to raise money to renovate the athletic facilities — including bringing Cowell Stadium to a late-20th Century infrastructure level — and for an academic resources center. He has ambitions of redefining the "New Hampshire way" and points to a new brain trust in place — UNH President Mark Huddleston and UNH Foundation President Don Wilson — as evidence that a new day is coming. No one will ever confuse UNH with say, the University of Wisconsin, but he believes that the state's flagship school can establish an athletic equivalent to the school's already strong academic reputation. He doesn't buy the either/or equation.

"It's like playing football when you come up against stiff competition," Veris said to me enthusiastically. "We will find a way to do what people said couldn't be done. I want to see it get done."