Athletes hold rally to save sports
Speakers include Olympic medalist John Naber
By Meagan Mihalko, senior writer
Posted on November 2, 2006

JMU student athletes gathered yesterday afternoon on the commons to continue their battle against the Board of Visitors’ decision to cut 10 varsity teams in order to be Title IX compliant.

Organizers of the event, seniors Jenn Chapman and Mitch Dalton, enlisted support with speakers ranging from Terri Lakowski, a representative from the Woman’s Sports Foundation, swimmer John Naber, a five-time Olympic medalist, and student speakers. The protest was just one event that student athletes have organized since the Sept. 30 announcement.

The theme that rang clear through the protests and speeches was the importance of JMU students making their voices heard.

“You have to decide what matters to you,” Naber said to the crowd of students gathered on the commons. “Whatever your desires are, there has to be a price associated with it, and the question here is, are you willing to pay that price?”

The United States Olympic Committee flew Naber out from California to speak with JMU President Linwood Rose, and Naber said he believes the reasoning Rose used to defend the university’s decision is sincere.

“If I were President Rose, I don’t know if I wouldn’t have done the same thing,” Naber said. “Proportionality is the issue.”

Naber believes the best option to solving the ongoing problem of the proportionality component of Title IX is to redraft Title IX so that proportionality is not the “Holy Grail.” He said the legislation should measure the desire and commitment of the students, and that the best way to determine whether a sport should be at a school is to see how many students want that sport there.

Lakowski said  JMU made a choice and the intent of Title IX is to “increase opportunities.” She thinks that changing Title IX isn’t the answer, but the answer is that students need to let their voices be heard.

“Student fees is just one reason to have your voices heard,” Lakowski said. “You need to talk about looking at how JMU is prioritizing.”

Student Athletic Advisory Council president Jenn Chapman talked about student fees and how $1,400 of every student’s tuition goes into funding athletics. However, Chapman said if the cuts stand, the fees will not be reduced, they will simply be reallocated to the remaining sports.

Chapman reiterated the idea that “if nothing else should anchor you, it should be that your voices were never heard.”

As speeches were made, hundreds of students stopped by tables on the commons to sign a new petition and sign letters that the Parents’ Coalition are going to organize and send to various government representatives both in Virginia and outside of the state.

“I think this went really well,” Dalton said. “The speakers were awesome and a lot of people stopped by to sign the letters.”

Tomorrow morning, 110 students and student athletes will travel to Washington, D.C. to protest at the Department of Education, which is where the Title IX legislation originated. A small group of student representatives, including Student Body President Brandon Eickel, will have a formal meeting with the Department of Education following the demonstration.

“I realized how big of an opportunity we have,” Dalton said. “Not just to save our own sports, but to save sports across our country. And all JMU students have that opportunity.”