BOV to decide athletic future

TOM STEINFELDT / senior photographer Wrestling coach Jeff "Peanut" Bowyer, left, hands his recommendation to BOV Athletic Committee members, left to right, Barbara Costello, Timothy McConville, and Pablo Cuevas.

Four options are under consideration by the Athletic Committee of the Board of Visitors as it prepares to present a recommendation on the future of JMU athletics to the full board tomorrow.

"What you really have got now is really four different possibilities for the board to consider," Pablo Cuevas, chair of the Athletic Committee, said to coaches, athletes and administrators at Tuesday's committee meeting.

Cuevas said the options include maintaining the status quo, accepting the Centennial Sports Committee's report which called for the elimination of eight teams, taking the administration's recommendation of a two-tiered system of scholarship and non-scholarship teams, or following a plan crafted by the coaches to increase student fees to be used for an endowment for future athletic scholarships.

Cuevas said the first option of doing nothing is not viable because the school wants to remain out of legal trouble regarding Title IX. He also said financial concerns plaguing the athletic department need to be addressed.

The five-member committee strongly questioned the ability of the coaches' plan to raise enough funds for the non-scholarship teams not to need additional funding in the future. Student body approval was also doubted.

Yesterday Brad Babock, executive associate athletic director, contacted several coaches to ask their preferences on either the Centennial Sports Committee's plan or the administration's recommendation. Babcock did not return phone messages for comment.

The announcement by the five-member Athletic Committee that it had not eliminated the option of cutting teams, as proposed by the Centennial Sports Committee, caught some in attendance off-guard.

"[The meeting] was very frustrating," senior gymnast Amy McGinty said.

"Especially now since they are considering cutting the sports again. That is the first time I've heard that they might cut the sports."

The Centennial Sports Committee's recommendation proposed the elimination of eight varsity sports teams. It is also the only recommendation on the table that brings the department in compliance with the first prong of Title IX.

The rule of proportionality requires that the ratio of female to male athletes be within 1 percent of the ratio of the undergraduate student body population. Currently, JMU's student body is 58 percent female, and less than 42 percent of the athletes are female.

The discussion of eliminating teams recalled an idea that was thought to be replaced by the recommendation handed down by JMU President Linwood Rose and Athletic Director Jeff Bourne on Feb. 22.

The administration's plan calls for the athletic department to be divided into 13 scholarship teams and 15 non-scholarship programs. It moves JMU closer to Title IX compliance by having a 50-50 ratio of male to female athletes if all teams can meet the required number of participants. But it falls short of the current legal requirements.

It became apparent that the committee was strongly considering a recommendation resembling the Centennial Sports Committee's report when Cuevas posed the question to the coaches in attendance, "Are you saying then, that it is best to drop sports than to drop scholarships?"

Cuevas asked coaches to voice candid opinions as to whether it would be better to cut their program or continue their program without scholarships.

Wrestling coach Jeff "Peanut" Bowyer and Roger Burke, men's and women's gymnastics coach, said they would prefer to keep their teams. But Paul Goodwin, men's and women's golf coach, said although he probably held the minority view, he would choose not to have a team without scholarships due to the high level of competition in collegiate golf.

Gwynn Evans, women's swimming and diving coach, said the ability to compete is as important as the opportunity to participate.

"I tell my team if you can't give me your best then you should be doingsomething else with your time," Evans said.

Bill Walton, men's track and field coach, said stripping scholarships would effectively make his team a glorified Division III team, the lowest level of college athletics. Thus, it would be difficult to schedule events with Division I teams because they wouldn't want to compete against sub-par teams. All JMU sports except football participate in Division I, the highest level of collegiate competition.

Cuevas later said that while cutting some of the teams is still an option, the committee would not contemplate cutting teams that differ from the original eight cited in the Centennial Sports Committee's recommendation. The teams in danger of being eliminated are men's wrestling, swimming, archery, gymnastics and tennis, and women's gymnastics, archery and fencing.

The administration's recommendation to cut scholarship funding but retain all 28 varsity teams is also receiving the committee's attention.

The most recent proposal is one drafted by Bowyer, which he said will "help all teams." Bowyer's plan, introduced on Tuesday, would increase student fees by $125 a year for a 10-year period. The money would be placed into an endowment investment where the interest would be used to give at least 40 women's scholarships annually to the teams recommended for scholarship cuts by the administration. It would thus help JMU move closer to Title IX compliance. The plan also calls for retaining all current scholarships.

When questioned by the committee about the viability of the plan, Bowyer said he is not a financial advisor or accountant but that his proposal is one suggestion how an endowment might help the 15 teams proposed to lose scholarships.

"By no means did I think I would have to defend particular projected numbers," Bowyer said. "All I'm saying is there is a way to make this work; there are people [at JMU] that can do the number crunching and get them to work — that's not my job."

Some of the committee members were concerned about raising student fees when JMU already has the second highest student fees ($2,414) in Virginia. Virginia Military Institute ($3,188) has the highest.

The committee also voiced concern about the student body's support of a student fee hike. Bowyer said nearly one-third of the undergraduate student population had signed a petition saying they support the athletic teams'cause.

Student Government Association President Mark Sullivan has spoken in support of the student body throughout these sports considerations. In the Feb. 19 issue of The Breeze, Sullivan voiced support for a moderate increase in student fees as a "last ditch solution."

After the meeting, Bowyer was unsure of his prospects. "I knew it was going to be a tough sell," he said. [Our chances] didn't sound real optimistic."

McGinty said, "I don't think they really considered [Bowyer's] plan very much. They just told him straight up that it wasn't going to work, I don't think they even bothered to look into it at all."

Although there are many options for the committee to consider, members said they are confident a final decision will be made tomorrow. Coaches agreed that this process shouldn't be prolonged. If the board decides to adopt a student fee increase, the decision must be made tomorrow for it to apply to next fall's tuition.

The Athletic Committee meets tomorrow at 10 a.m. in ISAT 136 to prepare a final proposal. A final decision is expected when the full board meets at 1 p.m. in ISAT 259 on Friday.