Rutgers Releases Call to Action

In case you didn't here how it went, here is an article from this past Sunday's Star-Ledger:

Among the guests were State Senator Ellen Karcher (from Freehold), State Assemblyman Bill Baroni (from Hamilton), President of USA Swimming Jim Wood, six-time Olympic swimming coach Richard Quick, as well as several world-class swimmers, who took time out of their busy schedules to show support for the program.

Several of us were fortunate enough to have deep discussions with members of the state legislature. We are clearly gaining momentum in that arena. For instance, Senator Karcher's son is a fencer at Stevens Inst. of Tech., and is outraged that Olympics sports such as swimming and fencing are being bullied out. If you haven't done so already, please contact your representatives and let them know how much value our sports add to our youth.

As mentioned on an earlier email, the State Senate and Assembly are considering a bill to continue funding the six programs slated for elimination. You need to persuade them to ACT NOW! Click here for a list of those representatives.

We also need to reiterate to the Rutgers Board of Governors that we do not need to sacrifice 6 teams and 150 student-athletes to have a powerhouse football program. Thursday night's exciting comeback victory against #3 Louisville is proof positive that a winning football team and a winning swimming & diving team can co-exist. In addition, the football program should be seeing increased revenue – more than the $800K or so needed to fund these teams. We should also reiterate how cutting the men's team will be detrimental to the women's team. Please continue to send letters and emails to get these points across.

Several of our representatives will be meeting with members of the BOG Athletic Committee at the end of this month. We would like to be armed with a higher number/amount of pledges in the event that we can endow the program. Thank you to all of you who have made these pledges. If you haven't done so already, or would like to pledge more, please visit www.saverutgersswimming.org and make a pledge on the website or contact Larry Jones at lcjrutgers@hotmail.com by November 25th. Again, this pledge will only be collected if we can save the program.

Thank you all for your continued support. We will keep you posted with any updates. As always, if you would like to add anything or help in any way, please feel free to contact us. Let's keep the momentum going!