March 20, 2007

News:  Visit www.equityinathletics.org and read the press release describing the lawsuit just filed in VA federal court challenging the Title IX 3 part test.  JMU is being asked to join the lawsuit or to stand aside and allow the teams a play-out pending the outcome of the litigation.  If JMU does not choose one of these 2 options, they will also be sued.  Their choice will make it clear if they are truly concerned with Title IX or if they found in Title IX a convenient way to streamline the athletics department in favor of revenue sports.  Please join Equity in Athletics (on website, no fee) to show your support for this valuable cause.  The Coalition endorses this lawsuit and many of our members are members of Equity in Athletics.  Several of their lawyers and many of their members are JMU alums and have the best interest of the university at heart.  Click on the link below to read the full press release from Equity In Athletics:

http://www.equityinathletics .org/npr002.htm

Don't forget our online petition, found at www.petitiononline.com/144lost /petition.html. Please sign and send the link to all your contacts who may be interested!  Visit the Coalition website, www.savejmusports.org, for more info and updates!

 

Alumni and students:  ASAP, Please contact Josh Pringle, js_pringle@msn.com, and Sean Harrington, seantharrington@gmail.com, and ask them to encourage the Alumni Board of Directors  to endorse the Coalition position, specifically, that the University  (1) let the affected teams remain until 2010 and (2) create a university-wide task force to study alternatives to these drastic cuts.  Josh and Sean are members of the Alumni Board of Directors, designated to handle alumni concerns over the cuts.  The Alumni Board will hold a conference call at the end of March and they will hold an open meeting on the first weekend of June at JMU.  The Alumni Association and its Board are independent of the University administration and they have influence on both policy and annual giving.    The Board’s Membership is listed on the University website on the alumni tab and we encourage you to contact the rest of them as well.  Contact them now (they want to hear from alumni, not parents), give your name and year of graduation or expected graduation, and forward this message to all alumni and students!

 

Alumni, students, parents and friends who are VA Residents:  Call your federal and state legislators and ask them to support the Coalition’s request to Gov. Kaine to issue an Executive Order to hold over all sports slated for elimination by any VA school until the next legislative session.  Express your concern about the effect Title IX is having on men’s and women’s small roster/Olympic sports.  We are working on a bill requiring all VA schools to give a 3 year notice period before dropping sports.  The delay on the decision by Dr. Rose and the BOV on our request for the 3 year play-out option, coupled with Dr.Rose’s delay in responding to requests by Delegate Tata to discuss the Title IX issue, made it too late for consideration of a bill this session!

 

Call Senator John H. Chichester, 540-373-5600, Legislative Assistant, Jennifer Hall.  He is the chairman of the Finance Committee which allocates funds to JMU.  Tell him that VA taxpayers want their kids to be able to play a wide variety of sports at their state schools and they don’t want VA tax dollars going for scholarships to out of state athletes to play on teams VA kids can’t even walk on to! Visit the website, www.savejmusports.org to get a link to your legislators or go straight to www.state.va.us/cmsportal2  to get the info.   

 

Parents:  Go to www.jmu.edu/jmuweb/parents  and click onto Parents Council.  The Coalition has asked the Parent Council to endorse our request for the 2010 play-out and the formation of a university-wide task force to study alternatives to the cuts.  Call a member of the council and discuss your concerns, parent to parent.  The BOV has made a policy decision that takes the university in the wrong direction.  We want more opportunities to educate the whole person, not fewer!  Athletes develop life-long habits of well-being, leadership, and teamwork that can’t be taught in a classroom.

 

Remember:  There are many people who disagree with the elimination of the teams and with the way in which it was done.  

 

We are broadening our base and making new allies.  Don’t stop!