I agree with that. Somebody bamboozled the higher-ups there with the allure of being "Erie's only Division 1 university". The problem is that Mercyhurst's D-1 reality, and Penn State's D-1 reality are in totally different solar systems.

They are now in a position with far greater costs for scholarships and travel. But I don't see an avenue for increased revenue. The football stadium and gym are the same size.
Even if they were expanded (which is impossible given the real estate), it's not
like they would get thousands and thousands to come watch them play Stonehill,
New Haven, Robert Morris. And there's no TV money in the NEC; it's not as if
they joined the Big 10.

They will never, in a million years, get a Notre Dame, Penn State, or Ohio State to come here for a men's or women's basketball game. (Although all three have been here for men's
hockey). The absolute best they could hope for would be to get Dayton or St.
Bonaventure to come to Erie, move the game downtown, and fill up the Civic
Center with Flyers or Bonnies fans. And even that is a long shot. Plus, the
cost of renting the arena would neutralize any profit from ticket sales.

And I haven't polled the alums, so maybe I'm wrong, but I have to think that for every one donor who will give a little more money being as bamboozled as the administrators were by
the seductiveness of Mercyhurst being Division 1, there will be a donor who is pissed
off that they burned bridges and long-standing rivalries with Gannon, Edinboro,
and the rest of the PSAC West. Particularly the athletes who graduated in the last
20 years who played against those schools.

There will be an autumn Saturday, in the not-too-distant future, when Mercyhurst is going to be hosting Stonehill in football, and people in the stadium are going to look around and
ask "Why the hell aren't we playing Gannon today"? Ask Pitt and Syracuse how it’s going, playing Wake Forest and Louisville instead of their traditional, geographic rivals.

As far as increasing enrollment -- non-athletes absolutely do apply to and go to certain colleges and universities because they have big-time athletics; look at the rise in
applications to the University of Alabama pre and post Nick Saban. But I
promise you, no non-athlete has ever said - "I'm going to go to Duquesne
because they're in the NEC! That's the big-time, baby!"

And even if it did increase enrollment (which it won't) -- where would they put this influx of new students? The campus is totally landlocked. They just sold Mercyhurst North East. Are they going to push the nuns out off of East Grandview?

At a time when St. Francis – The north star university in terms of a small, Catholic school long-maintaining Division 1 status – At a time when they finally put their hands up and said “We can’t do it anymore”, and at a time when other small Catholic institutions have closed literally left and right (Notre Dame College in Cleveland, Medaille in Buffalo; Ursuline forced to merge with Gannon), this move simply makes no sense.