12/1 class assignment

Program Background	The Trenton Junior Golf Program is a successful program that gives inner city kids the opportunity to learn and play golf, encompassing ages 4 through 18. This is at no cost to the kids. This year, the Mountain View golf course in Ewing is hosting a statewide tournament, and TCNJ is leaning towards offering the kids housing and a golf clinic for the two-week period. Tiger Woods will be making an appearance. The program received $7,000 in funding from the Tiger Woods foundation in 1998, so that is their connection to Mr. Woods. Everything is being sponsored by Nike.
College Goals/Pluses	Since, the school's name change in 1996, we have been accused of trying to distance ourselves from the city of Trenton. Getting involved in this program and tournament will go a long way to erasing that image. And since alums will be around for commencement, they can see in person we haven’t turned our back on Trenton. Another plus is to attract Trenton youth for our Collegebound program. We can use the tournament to publicize the enormous success of Collegebound to enhance the college image as an extension of Trenton, not the embarrassed neighbor like many perceive have recently perceived us.
Immediate Concerns	With both Nike and Tiger Woods involved, we cannot avoid the topic of sweatshops. Currently, the campus organization Students Against Sweatshops has asked the College to make an anti-sweatshop pledge. Unfortunately, that would make it impossible to work with Nike. And just recently, Tiger Woods made news in Thailand where he refused to support Nike workers trying to unionize. There is potential for Students against Sweatshops to boycott the golfing event or Tiger Woods himself. If that happens, the College will receive bad press.
SAS Considerations	Can we perceive Student Against Sweatshops (SAS) as a threat to the success of this event? With only 30 members and a small campus presence, I would have to wager no. But there remains the possibility of the SAS to gather reinforcements from nearby campuses and universities to make a statement. The WTO rally in Seattle last year remains a lasting example of underestimation. We should give SAS some respect in regards to their protest abilities. But considering they have never staged a protest on campus, we need not believe their intervention will be an absolute.
Goal Considerations	The College stands to gain a lot from hosting the Trenton golfers. We immediately get good press from helping out with the event, impress visiting alums and form an indirect association with Nike and Tiger Woods. In the long run, we stand to gain students for our Collegebound program, and get the word out on how successful that particular program is. Depending on the news flow during those Depending on the news flow during those weeks, we can gain national print and television exposure. If nothing else, we get our name out. This program not only does good for the College, it does good for the youth of Trenton. We wouldn’t perceived as just trying to enhance our own image at the expense of the kids. Do our concerns outweigh the potential good this event can foster for the college? I would say no. But, I think we should consider our options first.
Nike/Woods Options	Nike must sponsor the event. It is not feasible for them to withdraw. The tournament cannot survive without Nike sponsorship. And Tiger Woods should appear. Without him, we lose name recognition and a lot of mainstream press. And even though Woods has gotten a little bad press lately, he is in no danger of becoming unpopular. I see us as having to accept Nike and Woods, which is not a bad thing by any means.
SAS Options	But, accepting Woods and Nike complicates the situation with SAS. We could outright ignore them and hope for the best, although that leaves us open to be blindsided. But I think it would be more prudent to form a committee that would come up with a contingency plan in case of protest. We could also attempt to contact and pacify SAS before the golfing event takes place, to assure them the College does care about making an anti-sweatshop pledge, but the good this event does for everyone cannot be ignored. And we are not directly associated with Nike or buying their products, so we technically aren’t violating the pledge. Of course, this little pacifying session could have the opposite effect on alienating us from SAS, but not if done correctly. And carefully.
Recommendations	Go on and run the event, it will be a success for the College if everything goes smoothly. But, a committee should be formed to deal with the SAS and come up with several contingency plans in case a protest (large or small) does break out.