Two days after four men’s athletic programs were eliminated, Bowling Green President Sidney Ribeau and Athletic Director Paul Krebs went into further detail at a press conference about the University’s decision yesterday.
“This is a sad and difficult day for the U.,” Krebs said. “It’s a decision that is in the long-term best interest of the University. The strain of running 22 varsity sports at a Division I level, the largest varsity program in the MAC with one of the smallest operating budgets, simply became too much for us.”
Men’s tennis, swimming and diving, and indoor and outdoor track were the sports that fell victim to the cut.
“For us to remain competitive, to balance our budget and deal with the equity and Title IX concerns, we had to make the change,” Krebs said. “There was no real significant ways to save money in our operating budget without crippling all 22 varsity sports.”
“This has been one of the most difficult decisions that I’ve had to make since I’ve been at this institution, which is going on seven years,” Ribeau said. “This decision required a lot of thought and reflection, but was prompted by necessity.”
The athletic program is $3.6 million in debt. The University also just experienced a $5 million budget reduction that factored in to the decision. The University is in the process of accessing everything it does, not just in athletics.
“These are very difficult budgetary times,” Ribeau said. “We’re trying to find resources to run operation. It’s a difficult time for the state and higher education.”
Ribeau said the discussion about balancing the budget went as far back as 1996. Since this point, the debt has grown and funding has been limited.
“When Paul Krebs was hired in 1999, I remember distinctly during the interview process what he would be inheriting,” Ribeau said. “I tried to layout for him the job he would be inheriting. Balancing the budget and Title IX was one of the issues that I discussed with him.”
“At that particular time, we did not ask Paul (Krebs) to take any particular action. We just wanted him to look at the situation and figure out how to balance all these competing forces. I think he did try to do that.”
The move will bring the University much closer to compliance with Title IX, but the budget still remains the main issue for the cuts.
“If this was strictly an equity (Title IX) issue, we would have added more women’s sports,” Krebs said. “Finances and competitiveness are such a real part of this. Getting additional dollars to add women’s programs was simply not an issue.”
The other remaining issue that factored in was competitiveness. Krebs looked at competitiveness of each sport to factor in on the decision. While the swimming and track programs have struggled in recent years to fall in this criteria, the tennis team won a MAC Championship two years ago and were the preseason favorite to win it again this year.
“They (tennis) are the most competitive of the four programs,” Krebs said. “I will also tell you in the history of the program (since 1955) we have won two championships. I’m not here to knock the guys on the team because we could very well win a MAC Championship, but the program does not have a strong tradition of great success.”
The announcement came as a huge shock to many of the athletes, but Krebs said that he has been straight forward about the fate of the teams.
“It did come as a shock to the teams, but I don’t feel any of them were mislead,” Krebs said. “I’ve had very candid and direct conversations over the last couple of years about what may or may not happen in the future. You don’t go around daily saying your sports in trouble. That’s not a way to operate a program, but in my private conversations I’ve been candid there have been no assurance about any of the programs for the future.”
