MSU AD Dan Bartholomae 3 Pillars_ People, Foundation, Mentality

Thu, Aug 20, 2026

Video Transcript

Choosing Michigan State University was easy, and I believe there are 3 qualities that immediately set this place apart.

The first is the people.

A basketball coach who calls a new athletic director at another school simply to just offer advice.

A president who prioritizes relationships before anything else, a donor base that has already gone out of its way to welcome us, welcome us and be helpful.

And if I haven't returned your call, I'm sorry, I've got like 600 unread text messages.

It'll happen in the next 24 to 36 hours.

Uh, a staff that has greeted me with warmth, smiles and excitement.

Our people are our greatest asset, and we are going to activate that asset.

The second is the foundation that already exists.

Everyone I met with yesterday said essentially the same thing.

Everything we need to achieve our most aspirational goals is already here.

This is Michigan State, all right?

We have big goals for Spartan, the stadium district, Spartan Ventures, Big 10, supporting this new outstanding football coach we have to win at the highest levels, NCAA championships.

We should never, never settle for anything less than the best, because the best is right here at our disposal already.

And the third is our mentality, and it's my favorite.

We have a blue-collar, roll up your sleeves mentality that separates us a little bit in this state and in this conference, and I like that.

I wanna be somewhere where part of the plan is simply to outwork the competition.

That's the style I believe in.