Jim Patterson offers support for recently dismissed athletic director Tom Jurich

As most everyone is well aware of by now, interim U of L president Greg Postel recently made the decision to fire longtime (and incredibly successful) athletic director Tom Jurich, pending the approval from the Board of Trustees. Many current and former Louisville student-athletes showed their support for Jurich in the wake of his impending termination.

On Friday, Jurich received the backing and support from one of the university’s biggest donors when it was released that Jim Patterson sent an email to interim president Greg Postel, requesting that Tom be retained at the helm of the athletic department.

Patterson was a key Louisville booster, donating $8 million for the baseball stadium, which bears his name. Patterson makes a lot of very good points, but the one that sticks out to me the most was the point of Title IX compliance and women’s athletics in general at Louisville. Jurich has always been adamant about treating the women’s programs with as much equality as the men’s. Among other things, Patterson points out the overall GPA, graduation rates, and the state-of-the-art facilities that Jurich has been able to build over the last 15 years for the Cardinals.

Jim Patterson wasn’t the only person to put his support behind Tom, as Dr. Mark Lynn also sent a letter to Postel, urging him to not terminate Tom.

The Board of Trustees has scheduled an impromptu meeting for Monday morning at 9 a.m. It is expected that the main purpose of the meeting is to update board members on the events of the past week. However, it is possible that the members will vote on and approve the firing of Tom Jurich, and to confirm an interim athletic director as his replacement.

Time to wait and see.