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Username Post: Dartmouth Eliminates 5 Varsity Programs        (Topic#24512)
rbg 
Postdoc
Posts: 3044

Reg: 10-20-14
07-09-20 08:58 PM - Post#310223    

https://news.dartmouth.edu/news/2020/07/dartmout h-...

- To better balance the makeup of incoming undergraduate classes and help ease a budget deficit made worse by the pandemic, Dartmouth today announced changes to its varsity athletics program.

The changes, which will eliminate five varsity athletic teams and a number of staff positions, will give Dartmouth more flexibility in admissions, reducing the number of recruited athletes in incoming classes by 10%. The move also contributes to the steps Dartmouth is taking to address budget challenges, including a projected $150 million financial deficit brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The teams to be eliminated, effective immediately, are men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's golf, and men's lightweight rowing, dropping to 30 the number of varsity teams. A total of about 110 student-athletes participate on these five teams.

In addition, Dartmouth is permanently closing the Hanover Country Club—which is owned by Dartmouth and operated at the College-owned golf course—after years of the club's running in the red, with deficits expected to swell to $1 million a year. -

President Hanlon's email to the Dartmouth community:
https://www.dartmouth.edu/president/announcemen ts/...

Dartmouth Athletics' FAQ page:
https://dartmouthsports.com/sports/2020/7/9/athle t...


 
Go Green 
PhD Student
Posts: 1124

Age: 52
Reg: 04-22-10
Re: Dartmouth Eliminates 5 Varsity Programs
07-13-20 09:20 AM - Post#310280    
    In response to rbg

It's a shame, but I think the college will survive just fine without those teams. All due respect to the athletes and the work they put in, but from what I can tell, only lightweight rowing was reasonably competitive and none have a particularly storied history...

And I'm as guilty as anyone about not playing golf as often as I should...


Edited by Go Green on 07-13-20 09:21 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

 
rbg 
Postdoc
Posts: 3044

Reg: 10-20-14
07-15-20 08:43 AM - Post#310355    
    In response to Go Green

https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2020/07/q-a-w ...

- The Dartmouth spoke with athletics director Harry Sheehy for an extended one-on-one interview on Monday. During the interview, Sheehy said that College President Phil Hanlon first notified him that he was considering reducing the number of student-athletes last fall due to admissions priorities. Even if the COVID-19 pandemic had not exacerbated the College’s institutional budget deficit, Dartmouth may still have gone through with the same decision to cut five varsity sports, Sheehy said. He added that alumni financial efforts to reverse the College’s decision will not lead to reinstatement, since these donations will not address Dartmouth’s goal of decreasing student-athlete admissions by 10 percent. No further cuts will be needed to meet this goal, Sheehy said.

In addition, Sheehy confirmed that the winter sports season will be delayed until at least Jan. 1, 2021 and that the possibility is open for fall sports to be played in the spring. He plans to advocate for an extra year of Ivy League eligibility for student-athletes affected by pandemic cancellations who are accepted into graduate programs. -

- Did you consult with the rest of the Ivy League?

HS: We did let them know, but we didn’t let them know until right before because in this age, it’ll be on Twitter before we even tell the athletes. We decided we were going to let them know right before our colleagues, and I gave the league the heads up the day before because I could trust that no leaks would come out of there.

The only one that I talked to personally was the Brown AD, but I will tell you that I know the discussions are going on at other campuses for sure. And I think when Brown and Dartmouth act, you can’t stop those conversations on other campuses. They’re going to happen. -

- President Hanlon offered a series of athletic alternatives for varsity athletes whose sports were cut. Do you expect that students will pursue the opportunities he suggested?

HS: My heart says I’d love to see them get a Dartmouth degree, but frankly, I know what I would have done as a student-athlete. I would have looked for another opportunity, but not all of them will. To me — and this is just me, personally — having those other opportunities rings a little bit hollow. -

- The FAQ said “there are no plans for any further reductions” in Dartmouth athletic programs. How certain are you that there won’t need be further reductions in the number of varsity programs?

HS: I’m positive of it. I feel very strongly that Phil and I worked this through. He was involved in my planning the whole way. He’s comfortable with the size of our program as it will exist after these team eliminations. One thing we wanted to do was make sure the rest of our coaches knew and our student-athletes knew that the axe isn’t hanging over anybody’s head. Now, I’m an AD, Hanlon is the president, we’ll be gone at some point. I can’t speak for the next administration. I can just speak for this one. -

- Some sources, including CBS and The New York Times, have reported that no Ivy League sports will be played until Jan 1. 2021 at the earliest. Could you clarify whether the start of winter sports will officially be delayed?

HS: The start of some winter sports are going to be delayed. The presidents have decided there won’t be any competition until approximately Jan. 1, 2021. I actually applaud the presidents for delaying that decision because I think if they were forced to make a decision now, they’d probably have to do the same thing with winter sports that they did with fall sports.

How much are athletes for fall and winter sports allowed to practice this fall?

HS: That’s still up in the air. It looks like it’s going to be 12 hours a week. It will be restricted in a way because there’s no competition — we don’t need 20 hours during the week — but we want to help our young men and women get better, so we want them to be able to train. -

- Could you clarify what the Ivy League had said about eligibility for fall sports athletes as far as a fifth year? Can they play a fifth year as graduate students?

HS: Right now, that’s illegal in the Ivy League. When this happened last spring, I asked the league to consider waiving that for a year because I think it was so unfortunate with what happened to our spring kids, that if we had young men and women who were qualified to get in the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program, for example, why not let them do it for a year? But the league voted it down, and the presidents voted it down. Their whole thing is, philosophically, Ivy League sports are for undergraduates.

I thought that this was such an extraordinary circumstance that we should waive it for a year. Now, we’re in an even more extraordinary circumstance. So I believe we’re going to have to revisit that. And I would say that, in my original discussion with President Hanlon, he was not against that. -

- What is the likelihood of moving fall sports to the spring? Is that process underway? Would it just be football, or all fall sports?

HS: I think that every campus is going to have their own challenges in terms of staffing. For example, if we move our whole slate of fall sports to the spring, how does that impact our trainers, the sports medicine people, the equipment men? This is a very layered decision. On the surface, that sounds great. And if we can do that, I would love to give those young men and women a chance to compete in the spring because I do know this is a heavy price for our student-athletes to pay.

We just don’t know if that’s actually logistically possible yet. In talking with my colleagues around the league, there are a couple places that have told us, “There’s no way we can do it.” I’ve told our staff, “We’re not going to say that. We’re going to see if we can. Let’s figure it out if we can.” If we can’t, then we’ll have to say that at some point. But if we can, then I’d like to keep that possibility open. -

 
Go Green 
PhD Student
Posts: 1124

Age: 52
Reg: 04-22-10
Dartmouth Eliminates 5 Varsity Programs
07-15-20 10:08 AM - Post#310384    
    In response to rbg

  • rbg Said:

- What is the likelihood of moving fall sports to the spring? Is that process underway? Would it just be football, or all fall sports?

HS: I think that every campus is going to have their own challenges in terms of staffing. For example, if we move our whole slate of fall sports to the spring, how does that impact our trainers, the sports medicine people, the equipment men? This is a very layered decision. On the surface, that sounds great. And if we can do that, I would love to give those young men and women a chance to compete in the spring because I do know this is a heavy price for our student-athletes to pay.

We just don’t know if that’s actually logistically possible yet. In talking with my colleagues around the league, there are a couple places that have told us, “There’s no way we can do it.” I’ve told our staff, “We’re not going to say that. We’re going to see if we can. Let’s figure it out if we can.” If we can’t, then we’ll have to say that at some point. But if we can, then I’d like to keep that possibility open. -



While I'm guessing that the schools in urban areas may have an exceptionally hard time pulling off multiple seasons in the Spring, Dartmouth *should* be able to do it.

There should be enough space to accommodate everyone.


Edited by Go Green on 07-15-20 10:08 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

 
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