It is with disappointment that I write this letter regarding AU's decision to cut three of its current sports programs - Men's and Women's Tennis and Men's Golf. According to Athletic Director Joni Comstock on AU Athletics' Web site, the program cuts are being made to "target our efforts into sports that will further augment our athletics profile, and will build support from our former student-athletes and friends." Translation: Basketball is where the money is!
Admittedly, tennis and golf do not attract major network contracts or interest from ESPN, but this should not be the only concern of the athletics department. Perhaps other teams are to follow - how lucrative are field hockey, swimming or even soccer? Why not cut all these sports programs and streamline the university's 80 athletic scholarships toward the basketball program? AU ought to consider the benefits that come from having a diverse athletics department, and not succumb to the desire to compete in one major sport. Certainly, the richness of diversity is not immediately profitable, but it is indeed tangible. The lack of it will surely have a negative impact, both from within the AU community as well as how it is perceived from the outside.
Further troubling is that the decision was made with no consultation with the student body. Whose university is it - the president's, the athletic director's, or yours, the students who pay the bills? Perhaps other cost-cutting measures can include the salaries of administrators at the highest level. Just a portion of the president's salary alone, $614,000 in 2003 according to The Eagle, may be sufficient to fund one of the programs. How about this - the president gets just $500,000, and one of the programs is kept. Mr. Ladner, would you be alright with only half a million? I know it is only about $42,000 per month, but the average salary in the United States is about $30,000 per year!
As an alumnus, I received two e-mails this week from AU - the first announced that the "AnewAU" campaign reached the halfway point of its $200 million goal. The second said that three sports programs were to be eliminated at the end of this season. Is this the "newAU," one that sacrifices diversity for profits and marketing potential? My financial support, just $50 or $100 per year, can indeed be replaced. However, my enthusiasm for AU and the pride with which I boast of having attended the school will be diminished. Please reverse this short-sighted decision.
Zachary Sears is a graduate of the Class of 1998 from the School of Public Affairs and a former AU tennis player.
