Letters to the Editor (Editorial Policies)
Posted on October 9, 2006

Fight for the JMU archery team

Over the past 50 years, there have been three powerhouse teams in collegiate archery: Arizona State University, Texas A&M and James Madison University. When I say powerhouse, think University of Florida and USC in football, or North Carolina, UCLA and Villanova in basketball. That’s what JMU is in the sport of archery. And until the announcement last week cutting JMU archery’s varsity status, essentially eliminating the program from campus, it didn’t look like JMU was in any danger of relinquishing that role for a good while longer.

 JMU has held individual and team local, regional and national championship titles. In fact, on a grander scale, JMU archers have held world records and proudly represented the United States in collegiate and U.S. Team international tournaments (aka world championships). In the sport of archery, JMU is a juggernaut.

So why would the athletic department cut the varsity status (allegedly under Title IX, though both the men’s and women’s teams were eliminated) of the most successful team the school has ever known? Is the administration made up of nuts? Have they ever read their own press on the JMU archery program?

The beautiful thing about archery is that anyone can participate. Collegiate archery plays host to men and women of all shapes and sizes. We even have a few Paralympic shooters. These athletes also tend to be excellent scholars, as they have mastered the internal control that allows them to manage time, emotion and information.

Again to the administration: recant this foolish error.

To the students, don’t let this travesty happen. Speak out to keep this program, both for the men and women. Your current team and generations past has and have represented your school with honor, elite physical and mental prowess and pride. They truly have been and are the best that collegiate sporting has to offer. Archery is non-traditional, but especially where JMU is concerned, it does not mean that it has no school value.
 
Kari Jill Granville, JD, Chairman, USA Archery College Archery Program
Arizona State University archery program coordinator

Where was the student body before the sports were canceled?

A question to my fellow classmates who are up in arms about the university’s decision to cut 10 sports: where have you been for the past four years? Where has the support been for these programs before this decision came down? How many of you attended a meet at Savage Natatorium? How many went to watch wrestling at the Godwin Gym? Did any of you drive to watch our cross-country team compete? While I am sure some of you have attended these meets, the majority of students have not. JMU was supporting 28 varsity sports, the most in Virginia and seventh nationally. We were up there with Michigan; does anyone think we have an athletic budget like Michigan? Does anyone want to pay any higher student fees? We are already one of the highest in the nation.

Instead of blaming the university, ask the alumni where they were. When you donate to the Duke Club, you can earmark donations for certain sports. If enough donations came in for those sports, you can bet the university would have tried to find another way around this. We still offer 18 varsity sports, which is not too bad. This decision was made five years ago when they cut scholarships. The athletic department was trying to do right by the students then by extending the life of the sports. This is a cut that had to be made.

By saying this, I know this will not make me the most popular person on campus, but I am right. I feel for the athletes and coaches. They put their blood, sweat and tears into their respective sports. They were unfortunately caught in the middle of a politically correct piece of legislation.

Brandon Sweeney, senior economics major