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PETITIONPlease sign our petition to save dropped OU sports. Click here. If your current circumstances or position with Ohio University do not require anonymity, we request that you sign with your name rather than as "Anonymous" as some have. Thank you and thanks to the Women's Lacrosse blog for setting up this petition.MORE LINKSBobcat Attack Message BoardOhio University Alumni AssociationOU Students have an active discussion going on in FaceBook.Com. Click here to go to FaceBook.Com and join in.OU Student Newspaper "The Post Online"www.EquityinAthletics.orgSave James Madison University Sports.orgTaking Inside Higher Ed to the MatEMAIL CONTACT FOR THIS SITE: SaveOUSports ATgmailDOTcom |
PAGE 4 OF:ARTICLES AND NEWS REPORTS DOCUMENTING THE RECENT HISTORY OF OHIO UNIVERSITY'S DECISION TO DROP THREE VARSITY SPORTS TEAMSFrom "The Post Online" February 6, 2007 Sports cuts final; Hocutt considers phase-outLaura Bernheim / Staff Writer / lb174804@ohiou.edu
[Click on thumbnail for a larger picture.] Ohio University Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt said he will consider a gradual phase-out of the eliminated sports to allow student-athletes to stay and play for OU. “At this time, our decision (to cut the sports) is final, but we will allow some considerations for allowing players to finish their careers here,” Hocutt said. In a meeting yesterday, Hocutt and two other athletic department officials — Rob Andrey, associate athletic director for business and internal operations, and Amy Dean, associate athletic director — listened to student-athletes’ questions, concerns and accusations for an hour and a half. This discussion followed an hour-long meeting with Student Senate and its Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. About 70 students attended the meeting with Hocutt and William Decatur, OU’s vice president for finance and administration, which featured a PowerPoint presentation explaining reasons for the cut programs. About 50 students followed them to another room for continued discussions. Representatives of men’s indoor and outdoor track and field teams, men’s swimming and diving team and women’s lacrosse teams complained about a lack of student input and the finality of the decision, one that Hocutt said had to be made. “The direction we’ve been going is transparent,” Hocutt said. “We have nothing to hide. We as an athletic department and as a university have to prioritize. We just don’t have enough money to do what we want.” Although the athletic cuts will save the university an estimated $685,000, the athletic department will still operate at a deficit for the foreseeable future, Andrey said. “We did evaluate the possibility of keeping all programs and projected the budget up through fiscal year 2010,” Andrey said. “We tried to identify every need of every sport.” Andrey said if revenues increased 7 percent and expenditures increased 3 to 4 percent, the athletic department still would face an overall deficit of $8 million. “You put a plan in place, and oftentimes, reality doesn’t follow what you planned,” he said. “We have returned every phone call from every parent to my knowledge and will continue to meet with students.” OU, which will go through an NCAA compliance evaluation in 2008, created a seven-person advisory committee in summer 2006 to discuss the cuts. Before the decision was made, OU offered the second-highest amount of athletic programs in the Mid-American Conference but had the third-smallest operating budget. “There is no way to maintain a balanced budget as mandated by (OU President Roderick McDavis) and add any sports,” Hocutt said. Decatur said the options of generating revenue are limited.“We can only push ticket prices so high,” he said. From OU Website - "Outlook" - February 6, 2007 http://www.ohio.edu/outlook/06-07/February/312n-067.cfm
Student Senate information session continues dialogue
between students and university
A THENS, Ohio (Feb. 6, 2007) -- In a session that ran into overtime, students had a chance to ask the lingering questions they had for Department of Athletics and Ohio University leadership about the recent elimination of four sports programs.Ohio University Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt and Vice President for Finance and Administration Bill Decatur were the guests at a special information session hosted by Student Senate and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Athletics staff members Amy Dean and Rob Andrey were also on hand to answer questions about finances and the decision-making process. Originally scheduled from 6 to 7:10 p.m., the information session spilled over into a large lecture hall in the building and continued for another hour and a half. Students have voiced serious concerns about the decision since the Jan. 25 announcement that the men's swimming and diving, men's indoor and outdoor track and women's lacrosse programs will be discontinued after this season. Students' complaints focused on the validity of the reported statistics the Athletics department has used regarding its finances and Title IX requirements and the lack of outside consultation and student input used in the decision-making process. Swimmer Branden Burns referenced a quote by NCAA President Myles Brand that said no university should cut sports to comply with Title IX requirements. Former swimmer Matt Bell and current track and field team members Craig Leon and Brian King continually challenged the validity of the financial numbers that Athletics used in making its decision to eliminate the sports with charts and figures of their own. SAAC president and swim team member Michaela Hahn-Lawson said student-athletes are most disappointed in the process because no current student-athletes were involved. "My entire college decision was based on Ohio University having a coed swimming and diving program," Hahn-Lawson said. "The decision to cut the men's program also affects the women's team because we consider ourselves one swimming and diving team." The students' questions led Hocutt and his staff to spend much of their time clarifying the numbers and justifying the reasons for their decisions. Hocutt opened the session with a PowerPoint presentation that gave details about the predicament the Athletics department is currently facing because of Title IX requirements and a lack of adequate funding to maintain 20 intercollegiate sports. "The current financial state of the Athletics department places the university at risk," Hocutt said. Decatur then explained to the audience how the athletics budget fits in with the overall university budget, which also has dwindled in recent years because of stagnant state funding, state imposed 6 percent tuition caps and increasing expenditures. "The fact that our Athletics department has the second-most sports in the Mid-American Conference and the third-lowest budget is the root of the problem," said Decatur. Hocutt said the seven-member committee that helped make the decision to cut the four sports looked at three issues -- the state of the athletics program, Title IX and finances. Hocutt said another determining factor was a recent Ohio University Internal Audit report. The report recommended that the Athletics department investigate whether it can adequately fund 20 sports programs. "We need to make sure that each sport we sponsor has the necessary resources and has a realistic chance to compete for championships," Hocutt said. "We are already looking at a $4 million deficit this year and while eliminating the sports won't balance the budget, we couldn't continue operating 20 sports with decreasing revenue." To be compliant with Title IX, the Athletics department is making its level of participation "substantially proportionate" to its respective full-time undergraduate enrollment. "In order to prepare for NCAA recertification in 2008, we had to develop a plan that will make us compliant with Title IX," Hocutt said. "We knew we couldn't financially afford to add another women's sport." Student-athletes proposed many alternative options to Hocutt and his staff throughout the night, including the possible creation of a women's water polo team that would need minimal resources. Raising private money to endow the programs and a gradual phase-out plan for each sport that would allow the current athletes to complete their eligibility were most mentioned. Hocutt listened to all of the recommendations and promised that he would give a gradual phase out some thought during the next few days before making a final decision. "We are an extremely stressed athletics department and we just couldn't continue to operate like we have in the past," Hocutt said. "President (Roderick) McDavis asked me to create a plan that will eventually balance the Athletics budget in the coming years." Ohio University Vice President for Student Affairs Kent Smith told the student-athletes that he could only empathize with them and he admired them for their fighting spirit. He also asked them to cooperate with the university from this point forward because at the end of the day, the administration must do what's best for Ohio University during tough financial times. "This information session provided a forum to have open communication about this issue," said Student Senate President Morgan Allen. "I was encouraged that Mr. Hocutt and his staff were kind enough to stay longer than scheduled to answer the students' questions." [ 30 ] Media Contact: Media Specialist George Mauzy, 740-597-1794 or mauzy@ohio.edu From the "Akron Beacon Journal," February 14, 2007http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/16694813.htm [Bold type emphasis in text, except for paragraph headings, inserted by SaveOUSports.Org] Local track is still on trackUA, KSU not planning cuts in varsity sports. List of MAC runners dwindlesBy Stephanie StormBeacon Journal sportswriterOhio University stunned its student-athletes recently with the news that it was cutting three varsity sports at the end of their seasons. The announcement got the attention of the University of Akron and Kent State. If it could happen at OU, could it happen here? If those displaced athletes were to transfer to KSU or to UA, could they be given an honest promise that they wouldn't run into the same problems down the road? Certainly, they'd heard such guarantees before. ``There are few, if any, male swimmers that would have come to (Ohio) University if it were not for the representation from the university that there were no Title IX (gender equity) issues, that they would be able to swim all four years and that the university was committed to its Olympic sports,'' said Branden Burns, a OU freshman from Kent. ``We relied on that representation.'' Burns' sentiments were echoed throughout conversations with other OU student-athletes from the Akron area, regardless of their sport. ``I specifically asked the assistant coach I dealt with during recruiting,'' said Tim Millmier, an OU freshman distance runner and former St.Vincent-St. Mary standout. ``They said everything was fine. But it's not their fault. They were just as surprised as we were about the cuts. Everyone was left in the dark by the athletic administrators.'' The crux of the budget problems facing OU come down to simple financial facts. In sponsoring the second-largest athletic program in the 12-team Mid-American Conference, with 20 sports serving more than 600 student-athletes, the school's $14.7 million budget ranked in the bottom half of the MAC. (Institutions must field 16 sports to maintain Division I-A status.) Instead of trimming costs across the board to begin eliminating the department's $4 million deficit while taking into consideration the restraints of Title IX, Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt and his staff opted to cut men's indoor and outdoor track, men's swimming and diving, and women's lacrosse. ``Many have made a link with the cutting of (OU's) programs and football, but it's not a football issue,'' Hocutt said. ``It's a MAC issue, and it's not one we face alone.'' Another strike for track If Hocutt was dead-on in any of the points that he and his administration have tried to make since his announcement Jan. 25, it is that the demise of Olympic sports such as track and field has accelerated greatly in the conference over the past few years. Ohio is the eighth school competing in the MAC that has eliminated sports programs since 1999. By later this year, the MAC will have only six members fielding men's outdoor track: UA, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, KSU and Miami. On the indoor side, there are five teams left: (the same schools minus Miami). ``It's a tragedy that so many men's sports have been cut in the last few years,'' Kent State track and field head coach Bill Lawson said. ``And unfortunately, the MAC has become the poster child for dropping the sport.'' Despite the trend, both Lawson and UA's longtime track and field coach, Dennis Mitchell, stand firm in the belief that their universities maintain solid programs that have no plans of closing up shop. ``I could see some of those kids not wanting to ever consider a MAC school again,'' said Mitchell, the Zips' 11th-year coach. ``I don't blame them. However, I can promise that at Akron, we have great donors and great support from our administration. I've also just gotten a multiyear contract extension. I feel we are in very good shape.'' Lawson, in his second year at KSU, said his program also is secure. ``We have a tremendous athletic administration that is 100 percent in support of all of our programs, especially track and field,'' he said. ``I have been assured by (Athletic Director) Laing Kennedy, (associate athletic director/senior woman adviser) Cathy O'Donnell and (associate athletic director/compliance) Bob Heller that track and field is vibrant and strong and will continue to be so.'' A new plan Mitchell has developed a modern vision for his sport, looking to improve the way track and field puts on meets so that it can become more fan-friendly. A few years ago, he was part of a committee that USA Track & Field and the U.S. Track & Field Coaches Association put together to gather recommendations and publish articles aimed at ushering track and field into the modern day of the sports world. It wasn't until UA completed construction three years ago of its 233,000-square-foot, $30.1 million student recreation/field house complex that Mitchell fully was able to put his new-age ideas to work. ``The field house has really helped us turn track and field into more of a spectator-friendly sport,'' said Mitchell, whose team will host the MAC Championships next week. ``First, we try to limit events to 2 ½ hours. Then, we have five cameras going that we use with the video boards, have good announcing, simple scoring and the winners of events get to throw T-shirts into the crowd.... You've never been to a track meet until you've been to an Akron meet. The way we showcase the sport, it's like a three-ring circus. We're crazy in here.'' Mitchell's biggest pet peeve is the traditional use of the metric system. ``It's a big no-no in our facility,'' he said. ``Who uses metric anymore anyway? So we just convert it for the fans to help them along.'' The field house, touted by the university as one of the best in the United States, has earned such high marks that the Big East Conference began holding its league meets in the Zips' facility last year. (The 2007 Big East meet is in Akron this weekend.) Yet Mitchell knows that multimillion-dollar buildings aren't the lone answer to reviving sports like track and field in the MAC. ``This is a wake-up call for the coaches,'' he said. ``We've got to start taking a look at the way we put on our meets. We have a great sport. We just have to find a better way to get it to the masses and in a form they understand.'' |
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 DivingandSave 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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Copyright 2007 - 2008 by SaveOUSports.org - Email: SaveOUSports AT gmail DOT comSaveOUsports.org is a non-profit group devoted to action that will reinstate discontinued varsity sports at Ohio University.
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