Tulane Athletics Fund: The Early Years
 |  Judge Thomas C. Wicker, Jr. |
By Steven Farmer, Director of the Tulane Athletics Fund
The Tulane Athletics Fund (T.A.F.) has taken a long path to get where it is today. I recently sat down with The Honorable Thomas C. Wicker, Jr., one of the founders of the original organization, and learned of its interesting and unique history.
Judge Wicker is a 1944 graduate of the A.B. Freeman School of Business who also received his law degree from Tulane in 1949. He became a District Judge in Jefferson, holding that position for 13 years, and then served on the Court of Appeal in Louisiana for another 13 years. Judge Wicker was president of the Green Wave Club in 1973 after having previously served as Alumni Association president in 1970.
The beginnings of what would eventually be known as the Tulane Athletics Fund began in 1956 with a group of men who gathered because they were unhappy with the direction of the football program. Tulane had been de-emphasizing the sport, and the team's record reflected that mindset. Judge Wicker remembered Tulane playing Bear Bryant and the Crimson Tide in 1954 when there were about 55 Green Wave players, and the Crimson Tide boasted a roster of more than 100 names.
The small, loyal group included: Fred J. Cassibry, Lawrence Wiendemann, Carl Dailey, Gene Schaeffer, Ed Slatten, O.J. Key, Dr. Nick Accardo, Dr. Richard Corales, Dr. Walter Brent, Marion 'Hoss' Kessler, Louis Brown, Ronnie Durham, Charles Rosen, II, Charles Dunbar, III, Vic Klein, Dr. Art Kleinschmidt and Wicker. They met in Cassibry's office several times a year.
In 1960, the group officially organized, calling themselves 'Friends of Tulane'. The first large meeting occurred several years later at the New Orleans Athletic Club, amid wide press coverage, where over 500 people showed up to express their concern with the Athletic Department's priorities and goals.
In 1965, the Friends of Tulane attempted to put the group into action. Seeing that the Alumni Association was having elections for nine spots on its board of directors, the 'Friends' purchased large ads in newspapers in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Opelousas, Lafayette, Shreveport, and Monroe asking for votes to elect them to the board. While the ads were not politically correct (stating: "Are you tired of losing to LSU 62-0?"), they were effective, and six of the nine spots went to Friends of Tulane members. Judge Wicker recalls that at each meeting of the board, at least one resolution was passed and sent to the president's office asking for improvement and expansion in the support of Athletics.
While the Friends of Tulane were making suggestions for the betterment of Tulane athletics, they had not yet done any fundraising. However, in 1967 when head football coach Jim Pittman approached the 'Friends' asking for $30,000 for video equipment, they saw the chance to help the Athletic Department in a different way. The 'Friends' solicited $100 donations from 300 fans and delivered the money requested.
Shortly thereafter, a club that would support athletics was formed, and brought under the umbrella of the Athletic Department. Pittman obtained the by-laws of the Longhorn Club from the University of Texas, where he had previously worked, as a model. The club was dubbed the Green Wave Club. As thanks, Pittman promised that the donors could attend a weekly meeting during the season at the St. Charles Hotel (now demolished), where he or an assistant coach would give a scouting report of the upcoming game and talk about the previous week's result.
'Hoss' Kessler was elected the first President of the GWC; Judge Wicker, Vice-President; Charles Rosen II, 2nd Vice-President; Ed Slatten, 3rd Vice-President; and Charles Dunbar III, Secretary.
In 1970, George Westfeldt, a member of the GWC, donated money to have a room built inside Tulane Stadium for meetings and pre-game parties. With a $150 donation, you were given access to a pre-game party at the 'Westfeldt Club,' as it is still called today, and to the club's weekly meetings. That year, Tulane Football made it to the school's first bowl game in 25 years, and the GWC helped coordinate the travel of over 10,000 fans to Memphis for the Liberty Bowl win over Colorado.
Judge Wicker became President of the GWC in 1973. One of his best memories during his time supporting the Green Wave, and probably that of thousands of others, occurred that year when the Tulane football team beat LSU, 14-0, in front of 86,000 fans, for their first victory over the Tigers in 25 years. The next year, Ben Weiner - who went on to donate and raise millions of dollars for Tulane Athletics - was elected President of the GWC and served in that capacity for 14 years.
The Green Wave Club evolved into the Green Wave Athletic Association, and when Rick Dickson was hired as athletic director in 1999, the name was changed again, to the Tulane Athletics Fund.
The 'Friends of Tulane' started out as a group of men who wanted to help change Tulane Athletics for the better. Through its evolution into the Tulane Athletics Fund, the organization has managed to keep many of the same ideals and practices upon which it was founded. TAF remains a group of Tulane supporters who want the best for the athletics program and its student-athletes. And the Westfeldt Club still offers pre-game parties for the members. From its beginnings as a small group of concerned fans, the Tulane Athletics Fund has developed into a dedicated organization of close to 2,000 people that provided over $1 million in support to Tulane student-athletes last year.
