Title IX Strikes again - more cuts!

[pookie23]

ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCES

STRATEGIC REFORMULATION OF VARSITY SPORTS

Jamaica, N.Y. (December 13, 2002) - St. John's University (N.Y.) announced today the strategic reformulation of its varsity sports, which will reduce the number of Division I programs to 17 from its current level of 22. The University's Board of Trustees took the action at its regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, December 11, 2002. Under the University's Reformulation Plan, the football and men's track (indoor, outdoor and cross country) programs will be eliminated this year, with men's and women's swimming ending after the 2003-2004 academic year. In addition, men's lacrosse will be added in 2003-2004.

The University will continue to offer men's and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer, baseball, softball, men's and women's golf, men's and women's fencing, women's track (indoor, outdoor and cross country), women's volleyball and men's and women's tennis. Under the previous varsity sports sponsorship, St. John's offered 11 women's and 11 men's sports. The new reformulation breakdown will result in St. John's sponsoring 10 women's sports and seven men's sports.

"We strive to provide the best experience possible for our student-athletes," said Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M., President of St. John's University. "As we look to the future, we must focus on those programs that reflect the changing makeup of our student body. With the number of young women who attend our university growing every year (58% in 2002), we have an obligation to respond to their needs. Change is seldom easy and we recognize this decision is difficult for our student-athletes, families and coaches whose programs are being eliminated. We are committed to working with them to make this transition as smooth as possible, including honoring all scholarships and financial aid packages. I thank the students, their families and coaches for years of dedication. They will always be a part of the St. John's tradition."

"This decision was a very difficult one for us, and comes after an exhaustive, 18-month, internal Athletic Department review," said David C. Wegrzyn, Vice President for University Development and Athletics. "In 1995, the University adopted an aggressive Master Plan that called for the establishment of residence halls, new academic facilities and other enhancements designed to make St. John's a national and international university. This Athletic Strategic Plan further advances our progress toward that goal. Under the reformulation, resources currently invested in sports to be discontinued will be reinvested among the remaining sports and academic support programs, enabling the University to offer more athletic scholarships, hire more full-time coaches and staff and make other necessary upgrades in the athletic program."

Founded in 1870 by the Vincentian community, St. John's University has six schools and colleges. It offers associate, baccalaureate, master's, doctoral and professional degrees. The University enjoys an enrollment of more than 19,000 students and operates five campuses: in Queens, Staten Island, Manhattan and Oakdale in New York and in Rome, Italy.

I'm not sexist by no means....but this pisses me off in worst way!!!!!!

:mad:

[JonStephen]

Title IX killed my wrestling program at my school last year.....a division 1 school perenally ranked in the top 25.

Title IX is the biggest crock of shit ever. Call me sexest if you want but the truth of the matter is there just isn't as many female athletes as male athletes.....and those sexest womens groups gotta realize that this is a bunch of bullshit. This is killing mens sports across the country for the sake of being fare to women.

I think there should definately be an effort made to incorporate more female athletic programs....but not at the cost of mens programs that still strive.

Fuck title IX

[brickhouse]

This has nothing to do with Title IX.....they were fine under Title IX before. It probably had a lot more to do with the fact that they were actually losing money off of their football team, and thus had to ditch it. They could have 70% women and 30% men and they'd still be fine under Title IX the way they were before....

[pookie23]

Originally posted by brickhouse

This has nothing to do with Title IX.....they were fine under Title IX before. It probably had a lot more to do with the fact that they were actually losing money off of their football team, and thus had to ditch it. They could have 70% women and 30% men and they'd still be fine under Title IX the way they were before....

I could care lesss about the football team (it's I-AA and very few programs in that division have the tradition and Alumni backing to sustain a profitable program).

It's the track and swimming programs being cut is what I have a problem with. Those sports (along with wrestling) are ALWAYS the first programs to go when Title IX rears its ugly head. It's the same as affirmative action and it must be eliminated.

[mfiorellino]

Speaking from the view of a St. John's graduate I was really upset about hearing this. Even though the football team wasn't any good it was still nice to have especially when they won their occasional game. I feel especially bad about all the track athletes that will be losing their scholarships due to cutbacks. Lots of people really rely on those scholarships in order to attend an expensive school like St. John's. What a god damn shame!