The Star-Ledger Details Rutgers Political Battle

PISCATAWAY, New Jersey, April 27. IN one of the most-detailed explanations to date of why Rutgers University administrators continue to reject offers to help fund six cut sports (including men's swimming and diving), Joe Donohue and Ana M. Alaya of The Star-Ledger wrote a strong story in today's edition.

When all is said and done, Donohue and Alaya paint a picture of a Rutgers administration trying to protect both its autonomy from the state legislature while also trying to secure even more annual funding from the state.

Because of the way state law is written, the legislature cannot earmark funds for specific interests at the university. So, even if the state puts up another $1 million as stated in the story, the university does not want to get in the habit of giving up its autonomy from the legislature to public political pressure.

The other issue at hand comes directly from Rutgers University President Richard McCormick.

"It's hard to recruit student athletes, to provide the scholarship support they need, to hire outstanding coaches and schedule matches or races, or whatever may be involved, if you are doing it on a year-to-year basis," McCormick said to The Star-Ledger.

If one reads between the lines, Rutgers administration seems to be saying that they would like to act on all of the pledges being made right now to save the six sports, but not if it is in a way that everyone involved will have to go through this process again next year.

The next step for those wishing to save the sports would be to figure out a way to eliminate these two causes for concern within the ranks of the Rutgers administration.

Unfortunately, the political battle being waged on multiple fronts within this issue could cost those student-athletes being cut their chance to represent the university they chose to come to during the recruiting process.

To read the complete article from The Star-Ledger, please click here.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use