Did you hear the one about the athletic director who said his charge was to "fix football"? A perennial gridiron doormat needed a lot of help. And, coincidentally, budget cuts were required and six sports were dropped after the 2006-07 year. Yeah, that's Rutgers. And you thought Chop Nation had to do with perseverance! So, what happened, why, and can any of those actions be reversed?
Cutting sports to save money, or in some cases to create more equity, has been commonplace at colleges across the country. In 2013, Temple announced it was cutting seven sports, impacting some 150 male and female athletes. Fellow Big Ten newcomer Maryland dropped seven sports as recently as 2012. And in 2010, James Madison, a traditional FCS football power, cut ten sports, primarily for gender balance.
Beginning tomorrow, and continuing over the next several weeks, On the Banks will take a look at several of the sports that were eliminated at Rutgers and what has happened over the ensuing eight years. We'll also revisit - and expand on - the effort by the ice hockey club to attain "varsity" D1 status.
Tentative schedule of stories:
June 7 Ice Hockey: petitioning the gods
June 14 Crew: the oldest of RU's sports
June 21 Men's tennis and swimming: game, set, match
June 28 Title IX and the money