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PAGE 1 OF ARTICLES AND NEWS REPORTS DOCUMENTING
THE RECENT HISTORY OF OHIO UNIVERSITY'S DECISION TO DROP THREE VARSITY SPORTS
TEAMS
MORE:
We will keep adding the news reports on
this decision. Latest news on last numbered page. Keep checking back.
FROM "THE POST ONLINE"
January 24, 2007
JUST IN: Ohio eliminates 4 athletic programs
Katie Carrera / Sports Editor / kc207604@ohiou.edu
Justin Thompson / Associate Editor / jt315004@ohiou.edu
Members of the Ohio lacrosse team thought something was up.
And they were right.
Although the Bobcats had a day off from practice, they had a meeting with
athletics officials.
“It’s just a complete shock,” junior attacker Frannie Sullivan said.
“Kirby Hocutt came in and said, ‘We have bad news.’”
Hocutt then told the team their program was being cut from the Athletic
Department.
“Why did they tell us the news now?” junior attacker Kelley Windle
questioned. “Our first game is less than a month away.”
The lacrosse team was not alone in their shock. Hocutt also informed the
men’s swimming and diving team and men’s indoor and outdoor track and field
team that their programs are being eliminated, several student-athletes said
yesterday.
Hocutt’s explanation of the decision wasn’t entirely clear,
student-athletes said. Hocutt could not be reached for comment last night.
“It was two parts — one was definitely money,” junior pole vaulter Eric
Vandenberg said. “He (Hocutt) talked about, when he came into the department,
… a budget deficit that he was trying to correct. The other thing was Title
IX, of course.”
Members of the lacrosse team said they were told the athletic department is
running a deficit of more than $4 million.
The total operating expenses for the three eliminated teams was $223,854 for
the 2005-06 season, according to the Office of Post Secondary Education, a
division of the U.S. Department of Education. That number also includes the
operating cost of the men’s cross country program, which is added to track and
field figures by the OPSE but is not being eliminated.
The Athletic Department allegedly had been planning the restructuring for
four years, according to some student-athletes, although Hocutt arrived only 17
months ago.
Coaches Clay Calkins, track and field, and Allison Valentino, lacrosse, both
declined comment on the issue. Swimming and diving coach Greg Werner did not
return calls last night.
An injured member of the swimming and diving team, sophomore Matt Bell,
serves as senator at-large of Student Senate and sits on the Intercollegiate
Athletic Advisory Committee.
“To cut swimming in the middle of the season — it’s just absurd and an
immature act. It’s unheard of and unfair to the student-athletes,” said
Bell, adding that the plan was not brought before the IAAC.
“One of the things a lot of us were upset about was there was no type of
open discussion or open debate,” Vandenberg said. “They did this whole thing
behind closed doors. If they had been open to discussion we might have been able
to find a solution.”
The athletes said they were told they would at least keep their scholarships,
but some said they might transfer to another institution. A few lacrosse players
said they have considered sitting out this season to ensure an extra year of
eligibility.
Several athletes from the three teams lamented their collective loss by
painting the graffiti wall on Richland Avenue last night. “Vision Ohio” and
“114 athletes too expensive?” were splattered in white and green.
Ohio was the only school in the Mid-American Conference with a women’s
lacrosse team before the cut. It was also one of only four schools with men’s
and women’s track and field and men’s and women’s swimming teams in the
MAC.
Ohio’s first swimming and diving team began as a varsity sport in 1935 —
and lost its first meet in 1936. A track and field team launched in the early
1900s and has won more individual national titles than any other varsity sport
in Ohio’s history. Lacrosse resurfaced in 1999, though it was originally a
varsity program from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s.
Athletic Director Hocutt and President Roderick McDavis have scheduled a
press conference for 10:30 this morning.
— Michelle Muñoz and Matt O’Donnell contributed to this story.
FROM "THE POST ONLINE"
January 25, 2007
Athletic cuts could save $685,000
Katie Carrera / Sports Editor / kc207604@ohiou.edu
Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt said yesterday that the
financially-strapped Ohio Athletic Department could save $685,000 annually —
or 4.6 percent of its annual $14.7 million operating budget — with the
elimination of four sports.
Along with the official announcement that the lacrosse, men’s swimming and
diving and men’s indoor and outdoor track and field programs will be
discontinued following their 2006-2007 seasons, Hocutt said the program has
accumulated an operating deficit that exceeds $4 million and is projected to
increase to $7 million by 2010. The program cuts will affect 87
student-athletes.
“The deficit that we currently have is a combination of the 2005, 2006 and
projected 2007 fiscal years,” said Robert Andrey, associate athletic director
for business and internal operations. “Plus, we have a capital project
that’s on the books as well.”
That project was a series of renovations to Peden Stadium that were completed
in 2001, notably including the lowering of the playing surface to increase
capacity. The department still owes a one-time payment of $530,000, which it has
restructured as a five-year plan that raises the total remaining cost to
$650,000 because of interest, Andrey said.
When Hocutt arrived at Ohio 17 months ago, he received a mandate from
President Roderick McDavis to operate the athletic department within its budget.
A committee was formed informally in the summer of 2006 to begin examining
different ways to erase the deficit, Andrey said.
The committee included: Hocutt, Andrey, a present and a former trustee, a
faculty adviser, the dean of the college of business, the director of the Office
of Institutional Equity, a former Ohio athlete and William Decatur, the vice
president for finance and administration.
Decatur said it was clear the athletic department’s options were limited
because state regulations restrict the amount of general funding money the
university can collect.
“There’s just no way we can close the gap in the budget and add
additional sports (to comply with Title IX),” Decatur said. “It wasn’t
feasible given all the other needs of the university…There’s simply not
enough money.”
The $685,000 savings figure includes operational expenses and scholarship
funding as well, and would be the maximum savings the department would
experience if all affected student-athletes with scholarship funding did not
return to the university. All current scholarships will be honored for the
remainder of the student-athlete’s eligibility.
A majority of that savings is the $461,954 worth of scholarships allotted to
the eliminated programs. The remaining amount comprises $150,773 in operational
expenditures for the four teams and $72,273 for the combined salaries of
lacrosse head coach Allison Valentino and assistant coach Paula Habel, both of
whom will lose their jobs.
Both track and field coach Clay Calkins and swimming and diving coach Greg
Werner, along with their staffs, will remain at their current salary levels,
should they decide to remain at Ohio and continue to coach their women’s
teams.
The athletic department’s annual operating budget for this year is $14.7
million, Hocutt said. He said he is confident the program can be operating with
a balanced budget by 2011.
Along with any money saved from the cuts, the athletic program will look to
maximize its department-generated revenue, such as tickets, fundraising and game
guarantees from playing non-conference opponents in multiple sports.
Decatur said he expects the program to submit a proposal to the
university’s newly formed Student General Fee Advisory Committee, requesting
money that would be “essential” to completely close the budget gap. However,
he emphasized that the proposal is not intended to increase student fees, but
would instead draw from the money already collected.
Although he is uncertain of the exact amount that will be needed from student
general fees, Andrey said it is “in excess of $1 million.”
“We feel to operate a Division I program that can maintain competitive
success…we need to inject that type of funding,” he said. “Athletics
understands they need to generate as much revenue as they can, we are not going
to depend on the university to support us.”
The athletic department has not yet determined what its new, 16-sport model
budget will be.
FROM "THE POST ONLINE"
January 25, 2007
Title IX concerns cited in dropping of sports
Matt O'Donnell / Staff Writer / mo134405@ohiou.edu
Michelle Munoz / Staff Writer / mm162504@ohiou.edu
[Bold type emphasis inserted by
SaveOUSports.Org]
One of the main reasons Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt gave yesterday,
for eliminating lacrosse, men’s swimming and diving and men’s indoor and
outdoor track and field from was the athletic program’s inability to comply
with Title IX.
Title IX is a federal statute that prohibits gender discrimination in all
areas of education that receive federal funding, not just sports.
To comply with Title IX an athletic department must meet three conditions.
The first is to have roughly the same proportion of men to women in athletics as
in the student population. The second is to show a continual expansion of the
athletic program for the underrepresented gender group. The third is to ensure
that the interests of the underrepresented group has been accommodated by the
program.
Hocutt said that the university had not been compliant with the federal
mandate for more than seven years.
In 1995, Ohio University instituted a gender equity program that led to the
addition of three women’s teams: women’s soccer in 1997; women’s golf,
1998; and women’s lacrosse, 1999.
The NCAA’s most recent accreditation review of Ohio came in 1998, and in
2001 the university submitted a report on its plan to continue compliance with
Title IX. The report stated that a fourth women’s team would be added by Sept.
1, 2002. It didn’t happen.
“Simply put, Ohio Intercollegiate Athletics has not met our goal of
compliance with Title IX and due to our financial position we cannot add a
women’s program,” Hocutt said.
Because of a projected athletic budget deficit of more than $4 million, which
prevents the addition of another women’s team, cutting teams was the only
feasible option to come closer to Title IX compliance, Hocutt said.
Track and field was especially vulnerable to these cuts because the NCAA
counts indoor and outdoor track as separate sports, therefore the students that
participate in both are counted twice.
Mid-American Conference commissioner Rick Chryst said that he thinks the
elimination of men’s track and field and men’s swimming and diving is a part
of a national trend
The Ohio Athletics Department expects to come under NCAA re-certification
review again in the spring of 2008 and Hocutt said that it was a factor to
become Title IX compliant by that time.
These cuts were the first steps in the “development of a comprehensive
gender equity plan,” Hocutt said.
Ohio will now support 16 teams, which is the minimum number required to
remain in the Mid-American Conference. Member institutions are obligated to
include football, men’s and women’s basketball, softball, baseball and
volleyball.
To further ensure compliance with Title IX, the athletic department will
utilize squad management with the remaining teams. Although the meaning of
“squad management” was unclear, the term might include eliminating spots on
certain teams or cutting the number of scholarships available to any one sport.
Although Hocutt said he didn’t want things to come to this he felt that it
was the best thing for the future of Ohio sports.
“We’ve made an extremely difficult decision that will ultimately place us
in the very best position to be successful in the future,” he said.
[More
consultant's talking points. Words similar to these were uttered by
Butler's AD when he announced sports cuts. See "Athletic Director's
Explanations" page.]
January 25, 2007
Ohio University Cites Finances for Decision to Drop Men’s Swimming and
Diving
[Bold type emphasis inserted by
SaveOUSports.Org]
Well, it comes as a surprise to many and places a sickening feeling in the
stomach of all male swimmers as we are all asking ourselves, “who’s next?”
Staff and swimmers of the Ohio University men’s swimming team were informed
today that their program will be eliminated following this season.
The swimmers were informed of the move immediately following yesterday
afternoon’s practice. In a meeting with the men’s and women’s teams they
were informed that the decision was motivated both by finances and a need to
move the department towards gender equity compliance (the athletic student body
consists of 41% women and 59% compared to the general student body which is
comprised of 53% women and 47% men). The announcement left the team in disarray
as, by some accounts, members of the men’s team left during the meeting.
According to CollegeSwimming.com,
figures provided by Ohio University to the Department of Education, the men’s
program operated with a budget of $60,454 in fiscal year 2005-06. Despite
cutting the program, operating expenses for the Bobcat’s 50-meter facility,
and coaching salaries will remain on the books, making one wonder why cut the
sport?
More telling according to The Post Online was that the cuts would
leave the department with fewer than 200 male athletes - of which over half are
football players. The football program has undergone tremendous growth in
the past three seasons under head coach Frank Solich. Solich led the Bobcats to
their first bowl game in nearly 40 years, and draws a salary of $262,172 from
the university. The total operating expenses for the three eliminated teams was
$223,854 for the 2005-06 season, according to the Office of Post Secondary
Education, a division of the U.S. Department of Education. That number also
includes the operating cost of the men’s cross country program, which is added
to track and field figures by the OPSE but is not being eliminated. My guess is
this is a veil that Hocutt is hiding behind to try to give football more money,
or maybe just a raise to the DUI convicted Solich.
While head coach Greg Werner did not return calls from The Post Online,
an injured member of the swimming and diving team, sophomore Matt Bell, serves
as senator at-large of Student Senate and sits on the Intercollegiate Athletic
Advisory Committee did comment.
“To cut swimming in the middle of the season — it’s just absurd and
an immature act. It’s unheard of and unfair to the student-athletes,” said
Bell, adding that the plan was not brought before the IAAC. “One of the
things a lot of us were upset about was there was no type of open discussion
or open debate,” Vandenberg said. “They did this whole thing behind closed
doors. If they had been open to discussion we might have been able to find a
solution.”
Several athletes from the three teams lamented their collective loss by
painting the graffiti wall on Richland Avenue last night. “Vision Ohio” and
“114 athletes too expensive?” were splattered in white and green.
As a final note, Ohio’s first swimming and diving team began as a
varsity sport in 1935.
| |
DROPPED
TEAMS
2006
Women's Lacrosse Team
Swimming
and Diving
and
Track
and Field
|
