Listening with a Deaf Ear: The JMU Board of Visitors

By John Lohn

HARRISONBURG, Virginia, January 17. THEY said they listened. They said they were open to arguments, that they would give the students the chance to present their case. Really, the members of the James Madison Board of Visitors didn't give a damn over what they heard last week from Jennifer Chapman, the president of James Madison's Student Athlete Advisory Committee.

First, a quick recap of what has transpired at James Madison University. Last September, citing the need to come into compliance with Title IX, the school announced it was going to take the hatchet to 10 sports, including men's swimming. The school is also axing men's archery, cross country, gymnastis, indoor and outdoor track and wrestling. On the women's side, archery, gymnastics and fencing are being slashed.

James Madison has a 62 percent female enrollment and the claim from the higher-ups is that it must take this cutting route in order to comply with gender equity laws. The school says it has explored its options, but this is the only possible course of action. Never mind that the potential of adding women's sports exists. The school does not want to look at that possibility.

"We just cannot be part of setting an example where we condone selective adherence to any law," Board of Visitors rector Joseph F. Damico said. "We are simply not in compliance. We haven't been in compliance and, in fact, in the last five years we've lost ground. Therefore no action will be taken by the board that is contrary to our decision Sept. 29. I know this is a great disappointment to all of you and this is something that saddens us as well."

Look, the James Madison Board of Visitors obviously had no intent on changing its decision, regardless of what it heard from Chapman, the women's cross country and track captain who spoke on behalf of the 144 impacted athletes at JMU. What the Board of Visitors did Friday was waste the time of a dedicated and passionate group of young people, and their parents. They gave Chapman and her crew the feeling they were being heard, and then slammed the door in their collective faces – a second time.

Oh, and at the same time, the Board of Visitors gave Vice President Charlie King the permission to seek an amendment to the state budget that would set aside $5 million toward the construction of a new baseball and softball complex. Um, what about keeping the current baseball and softball diamonds and using that money to generate more female sports to aid in compliance?

The next step for the affected James Madison athletes is likely to pursue legal action. The students will have to hope that the court system sees a violation of their rights and steps in to halt the proposed cuts. Of course, James Madison's situation is another that demonstrates the danger level of Olympic sports at the collegiate level. When a school cites financial difficulties and the need to cut, it's these sports that go.

"I think the board was very serious about hearing what would be said by our student presenter," JMU President Linwood Rose said. "Obviously, a considerable amount of work had been done before Sept. 29, so what we were looking for was, was there something that developed something new between the 29th and today. I don't think any new evidence or direction was presented to us that would cause the board to take another direction."

Allowing Chapman to present the case of the student-athletes was James Madison University's weak effort to pretend it cared about the athletes who are watching their sports go by the wayside. There was never any intent to change the BOV's earlier decision, and the hearing was just a posturing move. It's insulting enough that they cut these 10 sports in the first place. It's as disgusting that the Board of Visitors faked an open mind and open ear.

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