Harris remained transparent with fans about the university's fundraising success while also directly addressing the indictment of a former men's basketball player for the first time.
Tulane Green Wave Ben Weiner Director of Athletics Chair David Harris has officially addressed a few of the hot topics surrounding the university's athletic programs in a newly-released letter.
On Tuesday afternoon, Harris published a letter written to Green Wave faithful, highlighting some of the department's successes while also addressing a major elephant in the room: the recent indictment of former Tulane basketball forward Kevin Cross in a major point-shaving scandal across the NCAA.
While the university did address the scandal in a statement on January 15th, this marked the first time that Harris himself publicly spoke on on the indictment.
"The department offers annual gambling education for student-athletes and staff, utilizing presentations and written materials," Harris wrote. "Moving forward, we will cooperate fully with the NCAA and law enforcement as necessary, but our primary focus is on the 2025-26 Green Wave team and supporting their efforts to have a successful season."
From there, Hall addressed progress that the department has made financially, sharing some interesting -- and exciting -- statistics.
For starters, Tulane made a big jump in ticket revenue; it recorded its highest total revenue in the past decade, and football and women's basketball each made a big jump in revenue due to the success of both programs.
However, the financial contributions didn't stop there. Harris went on to add that Tulane Athletics has received more major gifts since July 1st than it did in the previous 12 months, with more than two dozen coming from new members of the Olive and Blue Society. This financial society now has 129 members, though Harris noted that the university would like to have 200 active members by December 2027.
Additionally, over the span of roughly one month -- from November 12th to December 16th -- athletics brought in $1.68 million from 519 donors. That marked an 83-percent increase in donors and a 373-percent increase in money raised. There's no doubt that this influx of funds directly correlated with the football program's success, which eventually led to an American Conference Championship title and a spot in the College Football Playoff that awarded them $8.1 million dollars.
Harris also addressed some additional funds that the athletic department is currently receiving.
"Monies generated this fall from the fundraising efforts of the Green Wave Club, payouts from the College Football Playoff, and the buyout of Coach Jon Sumrall are being invested back into the department, with a primary focus of sustaining and building on our championship-caliber football program," Harris wrote. "Another key development for the football program and all our Green Wave sports involves the opening of the Green Wave Indoor Practice Facility this quarter. We anticipate being able to use the facility beginning in March."
The letter also states that the first phase of the Goldring Tennis Facility should be finalized in the coming months.
The success of Tulane Athletics as a whole is impressive, and the hope is that this continues even with major changes -- including the hiring of Will Hall as the program's next football coach. Much of this, however, will depend on just how good the team is next season -- adding a bit of weight to the first-year head coach's shoulders.