The Student Center offers many of the conveniences of a shopping mall. A local bank and the Nashville Sports Council (the same group that was responsible for bringing the NFL's Houston Oilers to Nashville) will help finance the renovation of the track facility, named after Temple. "That's important," says Hefner, "because track athletes visiting the school must see a track that reflects Ed Temple, a track that reflects Olympic tradition."
With a high-profile coach and significantly upgraded campus and track facilities, Hefner is confident that the university can successfully compete for the elite athlete.
"It's a different era now," says the TSU president. "Young people have different options, so you have to appeal to them at different levels. We have the coach, the metamorphosis of the campus, and later on, a renovated track. Those things make an impression and it makes it easier for us to go into detail about our academic programs. But Hefner tempers his confidence with patience.
"All this is not going to happen overnight," he concedes. "It's going to be a process of evolution. Over time, we will get back to where we need to be in track. We're like a caterpillar getting ready to change into a butterfly.
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