Division 1 Program Cuts Investigation: Affecting Students and Schools (Part 2 of 2)

By Jacob Kittilstad

(To read part one of this story visit this link: Part One)

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, August 10. EVAN Bernier, a former member of the University of Washington's swim team, said he never thought the program would be cut after having what he described as a "stellar season". However, he said he was a little nervous when he received an e-mail from his coaches requesting a meeting with the entire team to speak with the athletic director.

"We all had this eerie feeling. Especially because the A.D. did not want to walk into the room until it was confirmed all of us swimmers were there," Bernier said. "The speech given to us lasted about two minutes with the first line being ‘Due to budget constraints we'll have to cut the team…' Immediately there were, like, three girls crying and some of the men slammed their fists on the table. The rest of the meeting was a blur."

Every one of Bernier's teammates was affected by cut, some more drastically than others, Bernier said.

"I have two roommates who were sophomores. One was struggling to find a new place for himself to swim but he eventually made the decision to go to Cal," Bernier said. "The other, his swimming career is over now. He didn't really have any other choices and the decision to retire was pretty much forced upon him."

Bill Wadley, head coach of the men's swim team at the Ohio State University, said when a swimming program is cut the athletes may begin to feel dispassionate towards the sport but almost always become detached from their college and its athletic department.

"When a young person chooses a school, they don't choose it to leave it," Wadley said. "I think it really demoralizes them…makes them feel like they were hung out to dry by their college."

Steve Miller, a member of the Rutgers University men's swim team when it was dropped, said he wouldn't have even considered going to the school had he known the program was going to be discontinued.

"I would've crossed them right off my list," Miller said. "I mean, as time has passed I've realized I had some great experiences and met great people there but when I transferred, I left Rutgers with a really bitter taste in my mouth."

Chuck Warner, head coach of Rutgers' men's team during the cut, said the affect it had on his athletes was devastating to watch.

"You know, the kids grow up playing sports because the sports have rules that even the playing field for all participants. But when adults come in and just take away the opportunity without proper planning, without deep thought and with little notice…the process can be pretty horrifying," Warner said.

Administering Difficulties
When a program is cut the intentions of the college's administration are often heavily questioned and criticized by the athletes, alumni and coaching staff. At Rutgers University, the reaction was no different.

"These decisions rest on the good or bad intentions of the administration," said Warner. "I don't think Rutgers wanted to keep the program. The egos were there and when we were trying to reinstate the program, we just couldn't because I think some of the administrators didn't want to feel like their initial decision could possibly be wrong."

Bob Groseth, Interim Executive Director of the College Swim Coaches Association of America, said getting angry with the college's administration is the most common response to a program cut.

"The fact of the matter is most of the time the administrators are making the decision reluctantly," Groseth said. "It's probably a bad idea to irritate them because it's important to remember they're the ones who usually have the ability to reinstate the program."

Whitney Hite, head coach of the University of Washington's swim team during its most recent cut, said he was left confused by his athletic department's decision.

"I wasn't sure what was wanted. We were nationally competitive. The team didn't get into trouble. Our team G.P.A. was high and consistent," Hite said.

When the University of Washington's athletic department was asked how the swimming program could be reinstated, the ultimatum delivered to Hite was the team would be able to return after fundraising 40 million dollars, Hite said.

"That's endowing every scholarship and getting a new facility," Hite said. "Sometimes when you ask a question and you get an answer…there's more to it than only the answer."

Mickey Wender, who admits he knows little about the cut despite being Washington's head coach from '88-06, said he feels very strongly any program cut is avoidable from an administrative perspective.

"Swimming is a very inexpensive and cost effective program at any University. The benefits of sponsoring a team far outweigh the cost," Wender said. "In my opinion there is never a good reason for an administration to eliminate a college swimming program."

Universal Affects on the University
When a program is cut, the affects of that decision on a college are much deeper than what may have been expected by the administration, Wadley said.

"In the short term, dropping a program will help in balancing the budget. But, I think that in the long run the school's going to lose more money than it's going to gain from the cut," said Wadley.

Swimmers who experienced a cut may appreciate their experience but, in the end, they will most likely harbor negativity towards the college, Wadley said.

"I'm going to guess that down the road, they might be reluctant to give back to the school," Wadley said. "…and who knows? There could be the next Bill Gates on that team and he just slipped away."

Wally Morton, men's and women's head coach at Cleveland State, said he believes a college's fundraising ability is immensely damaged when a swim program is dropped.

"Sometimes the greatest support for the University comes from older swimmers. I think it's because swimmers understand how to set long term goals and there's just a high rate of swimmers finding success later on in life," Morton said.

Miller, who transferred to the University of Minnesota after Rutgers University discontinued their program, said his decision as to where he will contribute money later in life was drastically affected after the cut.

"I would never give any money to Rutgers and I really hope to donate money to the University of Minnesota," Miller said. "I really feel that the U of M is my alma mater and I will support them over Rutgers any day of the week."

Silver Lining: A Chance to Make the Sport Stronger
Every time a program is dropped it is not the end of the world but it should be a wake-up call for other coaches to get there house in order, Groseth said.

"The fact is there are programs being cut all the time. Sometimes we get excited about it and some might say ‘Oh, the dominoes are starting to fall' but on the other hand there are three or four programs that have been added in the last year," said Groseth.

Additionally, often the teams nearly dropped but reinstated end up stronger and more stable because of the alliances they formed during the program restoration process, Groseth said.

Simon Percy, associate head coach for the men's team at Arizona State University, said ASU's program did no fundraising prior to getting cut in 2008 but "through necessity, the program learned and found a way to bring the program back."

New Head Coach for ASU, Dorsey Tierney-Walker, said at the beginning the fundraising effort was very grassroots but eventually grew to a surprisingly substantial endeavor.

"At first the object was to reinstate the program but after that was accomplished we moved on to establishing even deeper relationships with our alumni and community," Tierney-Walker said. "Now we're heading towards the endowment of the entire program."

Percy said their key action was the formation of an alumni board whose goal was to raise or contribute ten thousand dollars per year and donate it to the team's non-profit organization which was created after ASU's program was dropped.

"It was a very powerful message to our athletic department and our board is still very active today," Percy said. "Although, the truth is that when UCLA's program was cut in '93, these measures should've been taken immediately after that warning sign."

Tierney-Walker emphasized the need to be proactive when it comes to program conservation.

"I feel we are better off than a lot of programs out there because we already have a support organization in place," Tierney-Walker said. "And look, we were cut and we got lucky. The time to save a program is not when it's been dropped…it's long before that."

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