Friday, January 22, 1999
Miami U. may ax 4 men's sports
Gender equity, $1 million deficit cited
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Miami University President James C. Garland, facing an athletic budget straining to deal with federal gender equity mandates, is recommending the school eliminate four men's sports: golf, tennis, wrestling and soccer.
“This is the saddest day of my life,” said Rodger Cromer, Miami's golf coach for the 36 years. “My players love this university. They came here to play golf and for the business school. ... Now to have this dropped on them.”
Dr. Garland said he feels for the athletes affected.
“This is the toughest thing I've had to do as president,” he said. “I agonized over it. It's very upsetting news for athletes. I wish it didn't have to be done.”
Dr. Garland's recommendations will be considered by the university trustees during their Feb. 6 meeting. The public can comment at a hearing Feb. 5.
“The board will have an open mind,” Dr. Garland said. “If some alternate proposal is really good, I'm sure they'll listen to it.”
The cuts come for two reasons: Miami is not in compliance with Title IX, the federal law that mandates gender equity, and the athletic department is facing a deficit of more than $1 million.
Dr. Garland's recommendation would save about $441,000. The four sports award a total of eight scholarships. About 30 athletes compete in wresting, 25 in soccer, 10 in tennis and eight in golf.
The golf budget for last year was $137,000, about 1.6 percent of the total athletic department budget of $8.4 million.
“Anyone who says this is about finances doesn't know what he's talking about,” Mr. Cromer said. Dr. Garland “recommended cutting the four cheapest programs.”
Said Wrestling coach Chuck Angello: “This isn't about finances and helping women. It's about showing who's in power. Right or wrong, the kids are caught in the middle.”
Wrestling is 2.2 percent of budget, tennis 1.7 and soccer 0.8.
Dr. Garland said he hopes to deal with the deficit through the cuts, a $500,000 increase in ticket sales and fund raising. The financial problem has worsened, he said, because in recent years Miami has fielded 22 varsity sports on a budget appropriate for only 17 or 18 teams.
An alternative way to balance the budget would be to increase Miami's student fee of $480. Forty-two percent of that fee covered $6.4 million of the athletic budget last year.
But that alternative would not help the gender equity issue.
Title IX requires colleges to spend the same percentage of money on women's athletics and have the same percentage of female student athletes — 55 percent in Miami's case — as the percentage ratio of men to women at the school (Miami is 45 percent male, 55 percent female).
“We don't have the money to add women's sports,” Miami Athletic Director Joel Maturi said.
Miami's Athletic Policy Committee had earlier recommended eliminating men's wrestling and indoor track, a plan Mr. Maturi supported.
Garland said he carefully weighed factors such as fan interest, program costs, potential for revenue, academic success of team members, and national and regional considerations.
“Would I have rather he gone with that recommendation than the one he did? Definitely,” Mr. Maturi said. “But do I understand why he recommended what he did? Yes.
“I'm not happy to be cutting sports and neither is he.”
Wrestling, a sport that has no women's alternative and generates little revenue, was targeted in nearly every proposal.
“This is is nothing new,” wrestling team member Angelo Pusateri said. “We assumed this was what (Dr. Garland) was going to recommend. But I thought it would involve fewer teams.”
On Tuesday, members of the wrestling team won a temporary restraining order from a Butler County judge preventing Miami officials from requiring wrestlers to sign a letter before receiving scholarship money. According to attorneys representing the wrestlers, a signed letter waived a wrestler's right to a scholarship if the sport is dropped.
University officials called the matter a misunderstanding.
Mr. Maturi on Wednesday spoke to the players from all eight men's sports that might be cut (hockey, track, cross country and swimming survived) to prepare them for the decision. Football, basketball and baseball are required to compete in the Mid-American Conference and were never in danger.
Athletes will keep their scholar ships if they stay at Miami, but they are eligible to transfer immediately.
“I told them we would continue to treat them like student-athletes if the stay,” Mr. Maturi said. “They'll be allowed to use academic services, the weight room.”
That's little consolation to Mr. Cromer and his golfers. The team finished third in the MAC this year and 13th nationally. The program has produced pro golfers such as Bob Lohr and dozens of club pros.
“A Who's Who of Midwestern golf,” Mr. Cromer said.
He talked to all his current players Thursday.
“I'll go the national coaches convention and tell people we may drop golf,” he said. “I'll try to find places for the ones who still want to play to go.”
Mr. Cromer was reminded trustees still have to vote on the recommendation.
“There's always hope,” he said. “Maybe those nine people have a better line of reasoning than the president.”
Enquirer reporter Randy McNutt contributed.
Sports Stories
CINCINNATI 81, LOUISVILLE 55
Crum: UC dominated physically
UC NOTEBOOK
Tulane's Smith comes to UC's defense
