We, the undersigned signatories of this petition, do hereby wish to indicate our total disgust and disappointment with the new leadership of the University of Maryland regarding Coach Ralph Friedgen's early termination of contract. It's obvious that this decision was made for perceived financial reasons. You wanted to increase at home attendance, you wanted invites to more prestigious bowls. Terrapins do not look to their football coach as the individual responsible for increasing home attendance, or getting us invites to the more nationally visible bowl games. We look to the athletic director. Firing the coach is about the weakest act of "leadership" we can imagine to address this perceived issue. So, this petition is designed to be a heads up to Dr. Loh (the new University of Maryland President) and to Kevin Anderson (the new athlletic director). Coach Friedgen is a terp alum with a demonstrable loyalty to his alma mater. Neither of you can claim that. He has the love of his fellow terps. Neither of you do. Our respect has to be earned. You have both come out of the gate going in the wrong direction. Coach Friedgen kept his program clean. Good graduation rates, and we did not read about terps in the police blotter every week. At Maryland, we respect this attribute immensely, apparently better than you do. For us, this is worth at least as much as a bigger bowl or a sold out crowd. We value honor and integrity. Coach Friedgen was ACC coach of the year. What accolades did either of you receive this year? Coach Friedgen could have had his recruiting powers dramatically improved by giving him a new contract, allowing recruiting candidates to feel comfortable that Coach Friedgen would be around for their collegiate careers. Bottom line Mr. Anderson & Dr. Loh, we are NOT happy with you. Your first decision was not a decision a "Terp" would take. For you this is a job. For us, it is our alma mater. We love Coach Friedgen, we don't know you. Had you come in and made public statements of support for Coach Friedgen, you would have started off on the right foot with the alumni. You didn't. Our opinion out of the gate is that neither of you are good hires. You need to change that. Not by building new facilities, allocating budgets in a way that neccessitate tuition increases, and chasing research grants. You need to do something for the students. You need to learn our culture and ethos of loyalty to each other. You need to admit the mistake you made, and apologize. We will be demonstrating our frustration in financial ways. We will not be donating or supporting, as it is a proven fact that such actions are the ones most loudly heard. We will not go to football games. We will not donate to fundraisers. This is OUR school, and Coach Friedgen was one of US. With utmost sincerity, The University of Maryland Alumni