LINKS
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 |
Some of our correspondence with public mediaPosted to "Double-A Zone, Morning Coffee" the NCAA's sports blog on February 19, 2007Our entry further below is posted as a comment following this Morning Coffee entry:"Ready for a fight. Last week, we reported that Ohio University had cut four of its varsity sports programs – women’s lacrosse, men’s swimming and men’s indoor and outdoor track. Obviously, there are many people who are disturbed about the decision and they’ve decided to fight for the teams. I received notice yesterday of an online petition to “Bring Back Ohio University Sports” and as of this morning, it had more than 1,300 signatures. While the eliminated sports aren’t necessarily the ones that sell tickets or fill the stands, it’s pretty apparent that they have had a significant impact on the academic experience of many individuals. It’s sad that it takes something like this for everyone to recognize that."Our entry:From Save OU Sports.Orgwww.saveousports.orgDear Morning Coffee,
Thank you for helping us gain attention for our fight to
reinstate eliminated Ohio University sports programs.
All three teams' coordinating groups attended a February 15-16, Ohio University Board of Trustees meeting in Chillicothe, Ohio and presented the Board with letters and documents requesting that the Board reverse OU's decision to cut 86 athletes and three teams. Those letters and study can be found on our website at: www.saveousports.org.Our letter to the Board of Trustees included these
requests:
-- Halt this decision immediately;
-- Reinstate the dropped teams;
-- Take immediate action to help the lacrosse team
immediately resume its aborted season;
-- Embark on a more comprehensive effort to explore all the
options available by a less partisan group/committee than was apparently
undertaken by the OU Athletic Department including the input from outside
sources who are not so closely tied to the interests of the sports who would
benefit from the elimination of the “non-revenue” sports; and,
-- Implement the most promising and very practical options
already enumerated by prominent alumni to place OU Athletics on a sound
financial and administrative footing.
NOTE: A
prominent alum that recently participated in Bobcat fund raising drive expressed
his outrage that donors were apparently not told during the campaign that the
university was seriously considering cutting teams. You can read his letter at this link:
http://www.saveousports.org/ou_alumni_speak_out.htmThe Board met for an extra day, Saturday, February 17.
That extra day's meeting was not on the Board's original agenda and we
weren't told of the extra meeting so none of our interest group had an
opportunity to continue our presentation. We're pretty sure that the OU
officials who made this decision were there, however.
According to news reports, the Board voted on this extra day not to
overturn the OU administration's decision.
Displaying an unfortunate lack of understanding of what it
takes to work all of one's life to develop the skills necessary to make an NCAA
Division One team, in one of the earlier sessions, some board members reportedly
suggested that dropped athletes be allowed to try out for other teams.
Below is an excerpt from an email from a person who
attended the meeting:
"For example, one Trustee asked the AD if the athletes
in the cut sports would have an opportunity to try out for the other sports. I
wish that I was making this up – but they actually asked this! Breast strokers
to the wrestling team, Flyers to baseball, Backstrokers to Cross Country, Imers
to basketball and Free Stylers to football!!!!"
Clearly some of the Trustees lack the requisite knowledge
and understanding to review such an important decision affecting athletes who
have invested so much of their lives getting to this level of proficiency.
The mood on campus after this decision is somber and some
students seem resigned to this being the last gasp. They express disappointment in OU's leadership.
We want the entire Bobcat community, you, and the rest of
the NCAA community following our efforts that we will not let this drop.
There are still many options open to us and we intend to
pursue them aggressively.
This is just round one in this match.
In it, we believe that we exhausted our administrative remedies in OU's
sphere and now intend to take the fight to the next level.
The process OU followed in making this decision was not
legitimate. OU violated its own
policies by excluding student-athlete representatives and student government
representatives from the entire closed-door decision process.
For our evidence of this, please see this web page on our site at this
link:
http://www.saveousports.org/ou_violates.htmAn attorney with whom we are consulting had this to say
about the decision process:
"The exclusion of these groups worked to the detriment
of a valid, equitable, respectable and thorough analytical decision-making
process. One could hardly expect
support of the decisions under the circumstances. Decisions made behind closed doors by few seldom win the
support or earn the respect of many."
Pages on our website also address the reasons OU says it
made this decision - Finances and Title IX.
We present evidence from experts including statements by
Myles Brand, President of the NCAA, Phil Whitten, Executive Director of the
College Swimming Coaches Association of America and other recognized experts on
Title IX. Some of these experts
believe OU's claims that they are being forced by Title IX concerns to drop
these teams are misinformed.
We have a continuing study of OU's finances underway.
This study demonstrates that OU's management of its sports budget appears
to have many opportunities for substantial improvement and savings that do not
force it to drop teams. Improvements in management of this budget could result in
much better finances that could be used to keep these teams in OU's roster.
A link to the study, related documents, and full copies of
official OU documents we obtained is featured prominently on our site.
We're revising the study that was presented to the OU Board of Trustees
to reflect new information recently received.
When we contacted the OU Legal Affairs Office for
university documents immediately after OU announced this decision, they sent the
most recent audit report on the Athletic Department but only sent us the
odd-numbered pages.
Unfortunately, by the time they sent us the even-numbered
pages, it was too late to research them and include our analysis of them in the
report to the Board of Trustees. The missing pages contain information that is
important in making our case. The
financial study we are revising is posted on the site and we intend to post
addenda to it as our efforts develop new information.
The link to official OU documents we have received so far
is at:
http://www.saveousports.org/documents_page.htmIn addition to our online petition at this link...
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ohiouniversitysports/index.html...we also have a page on our site devoted to emailing
Ohio's highest political leaders and its representative in Congress at this
link:
http://www.saveousports.org/take_action_now!!.htmThe site is expanding with new contributions and we
encourage you and your readers to visit it, bookmark it, and revisit it
frequently.
Any new information or developments will be linked on our
Breaking News page just inside the entrance to the site.
Again, thank you for publicizing this issue.
The teams appreciate it.
Best Regards,Save OU Sports.Org--Go Bobcats!! |
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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