Articles and News Reports Page 2

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Kyle Grantham / Staff Photographer / kg116806@ohiou.edu
Students affected by the announced cuts in the athletic program voiced their displeasure on the graffiti wall at the top of Richland Avenue shortly after hearing the news.

[Web note on President Roderick McDavis's bonus displayed in the picture above: Apparently President McDavis's bonus was $41,250 that brought his salary up to approximately $300,000.]

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, OU director of athletics, 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 four 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 four 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. The track and field team, launched in the early 1900s, 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 news conference for 10:30 this morning.— Michelle Muñoz and Matt O’Donnell contributed to this story.

JUST IN: McDavis faces anger, grief from student athletes

Tears were shed and accusations flung at Ohio University President Roderick McDavis as dozens of angry students confronted him about the decision to cut four varsity sports at Friday’s Town Hall meeting.

The meeting reached a fever pitch when dozens of people walked out after it was suggested that the meeting move to address other topics.

“We came to this university to chase titles while wearing Ohio colors, and we’ve been robbed of that chance,” said long-distance runner Drew Fattlar, a junior on the track team.

Most of the meeting was spent explaining and debating the decision to cut the men’s track and field, lacrosse, swimming and diving teams for the 2007-08 school year. Athletes demanded explanations for why sports had to be cut instead of other changes to the athletic budget, and why athletes were kept in the dark for so long about the cuts.

“These kids represent OU. They bleed green. They’re still going to put it all on the line for this university,” said former swimmer Matthew Bell. “I don’t understand why you wouldn’t inform them.”

As an alumnus of the OU track team, McDavis said his heart goes out to all the athletes and coaches affected by this, but he stands by the decision.

“There are times when the interests of the whole must proceed, and unfortunately this is one of them,” he said.

OU Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt defended the decision to cut teams rather than allocate the money from different athletic areas. The need to comply with Title IX regulations as well as the drive to create a fiscally solvent department was what prompted the final decision, he said.

“Why would we hire a very expensive coach and redesign a few offices instead of adding women’s sports? Why wouldn’t you adjust that instead of cutting 100 athletes?” asked lacrosse player Shannon Hadaway between sobs.

The lack of student involvement in both the athletics cut and the $25 Halloween guest fee also were questioned. McDavis acknowledged that the system was not perfect yet, but said efforts were being made to listen to all constituent groups.

“We do listen,” he said. “I know to some folks it seems like we don’t, but we do. We’re trying to get better at it too.”

Questions about budget transparency and the possibility of lay-offs for the 2007-08 school year were also brought up. McDavis said that efforts are being made to ensure that the budget process involves not just administrators, but also faculty and students.

Regarding layoffs, McDavis said the university would do everything to avoid dealing with additional layoffs, but it’s a challenge.

“There are some unknowns as we work on a budget,” he said. “On a go-forward basis, I can’t assure everyone that’s not going to happen.”

- Because of the School of Music’s lack of performance space, the department has to pay for use of Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium to complete performance requirements for the program

- Did the university invest the promised $1.8 million in Information Technology staff training?

- The Budget Planning Council built in a 3 percent raise for OU employees next year

- A student-dominated General Fee Committee will be formed that breaks down and discusses the funds allocated from the students’ general fee

- As part of the effort to encourage diversity, OU is working to make the campus accessible to disabled students above and beyond an American Disabilities Act requirement.

- Various spots on campus are designated as Free-Speech Zones, but are required to be booked beforehand for all demonstrations.

- Plans are still in the works for renovation of the former Baker Center to be used by the Scripps College of Communication; however, fundraising will be needed before any formal decisions are made.

Scholarship dollars rank low for some cut sports

While more than half the possible annual savings from the elimination last week of four sports comes from scholarship dollars, the aid allotted to three of the cut teams is among the lowest amounts offered for all Ohio sports.

Should all underclassmen student-athletes currently receiving aid on the cut teams transfer next year, the athletics department would realize 67.4 percent, or $461,954, of the $685,000 it stands to save from the eliminations.

The NCAA categorizes lacrosse, men’s swimming and diving and men’s track and field as equivalency sports, meaning the NCAA limit represents the total amount of aid allowed, which can be divided in any way among team members. With headcount sports, any amount of aid expended to an athlete counts as one full scholarship toward the maximum allowed for that sport by the NCAA.

Scholarships for the four sports cut by the athletics department last week only made up 8.6 percent of the athletics aid expended to Ohio’s 20 teams this year.

Headcount sports at Ohio — football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball — account for 51.5 percent, or $2,752,699, of the $5,342,850 aid expended by the athletic department this year.

According to data obtained from the athletic department, only the equivalent of 1.29 full scholarships, or $33,222, was offered at Ohio for men’s swimming and diving this past year. That number is well short of the NCAA’s limit of 9.9 full scholarships and, by far, the smallest amount of aid received by all Ohio teams.

Men’s indoor and outdoor track and field, combined with cross country in NCAA aid regulations, received 7.55 full scholarships, or $138,000, also less than the 12.6 limit permissible by the NCAA. The expenditure for men’s track and field is the fourth-lowest amount of scholarship funding at Ohio, above only men’s swimming and diving and both golf teams.

Along with those teams, scholarship funding for soccer, women’s basketball, women’s golf and women’s swimming and diving falls at least one full scholarship below the NCAA limit.

For a complete breakdown of Ohio sports scholarship expenditures, check out today's front page.

Student-athletes confront McDavis, administration

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James Robles / For The Post / dr122106@ohio.edu
Ohio Universisty President, Roderick McDavis grimaces as most student athletes and the large majority of the ball-room crowd abruptly depart following his explanation of why numerous sports were terminated. Although the town hall-style meeting Friday began with an excess of-capacity, few students stayed for its entirety.

The meeting reached a fever pitch when dozens of people walked out after it was suggested that the meeting move to address other topics.

“We came to this university to chase titles while wearing Ohio colors, and we’ve been robbed of that chance,” said long-distance runner Drew Fattlar, a junior on the track team.

Most of the meeting was spent explaining and debating the decision to cut the men’s track and field, lacrosse, and men’s swimming and diving teams for the 2007-08 school year. Athletes demanded explanations for why sports had to be cut instead of other changes to the athletic budget, and why athletes were kept in the dark for so long about the cuts.

As an alumnus of the OU track team, McDavis said his heart goes out to all the athletes and coaches affected by this, but he stands by the decision.

“There are times when the interests of the whole must proceed, and unfortunately this is one of them,” he said.

“We do listen,” he said. “I know to some folks it seems like we don’t, but we do. We’re trying to get better at it, too.”

Questions about budget transparency and the possibility of layoffs for the 2007-08 school year were also brought up. McDavis said that efforts are being made to ensure that the budget process involves not just administrators, but also faculty and students.

Regarding layoffs, McDavis said the university would do everything to avoid dealing with additional layoffs, but it’s a challenge.

“There are some unknowns as we work on a budget,” he said. “On a go-forward basis, I can’t assure everyone that’s not going to happen.”

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James Robles / For The Post / dr122106@ohio.edu
Members of the Ohio University swim team show their discontent at the University’s decision to cut their athletic program by spelling “save swimming” across the back wall at the Town Hall meeting held Friday, January 26, 2007, at Baker Center.

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PAGE 2 OF:

ARTICLES AND NEWS REPORTS DOCUMENTING THE RECENT HISTORY OF OHIO UNIVERSITY'S DECISION TO DROP THREE VARSITY SPORTS TEAMS

Ohio cuts 4 sports

Lacrosse, men’s swimming, indoor and outdoor track dropped

JUST IN: McDavis faces anger, grief from student athletes

Scholarship dollars rank low for some cut sports

Student-athletes confront McDavis, administration

DROPPED TEAMS

2006 Women's Lacrosse Team

Women's Save Ohio Lacrosse Blog

LaxPower.com message board discussion on OU LAX

Women's Lacrosse web page at OU website

Swimming and Diving

Save Ohio Swimming and Diving

and

Save Ohio Swimming

Swimming and Diving web page at OU website

Save Ohio University Swimming Discussion Forum

Track and Field

Bringing Back Ohio Track Blog

Track and Field web page at OU website

YouTube video put together for the Track and Field Team

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SaveOUsports.org is a non-profit group devoted to action that will reinstate discontinued varsity sports at Ohio University.