The March 23 Joint Senate meeting heard statements from administration members regarding the recent cut of the CSB/SJU Nordic ski team from the athletic program. Vice Presidents of Student Development Mary Geller and Fr. Doug Mullin, OSB, Athletic Directors Carol Howe-Veenstra and Tom Stock and Intramurals Director Bob Alpers were present.
Geller began with a prepared statement from the administration members. She said the decision to cut the Nordic ski team was the result of years of budget shaving.
“These are factors we were painfully aware of when we made this decision,” Geller said. “Yes, we knew it would be a loss to current members of the team. Yes, we knew it would have an impact on recruitment. Yes, we knew that our Nordic ski team athletes are high caliber students.”
Geller admitted that changing Nordic to a club sport would be different and it would not be completely equal to its current status. However, the administration believes that even as a club sport, Nordic skiers can thrive.
“We do believe we can create a strong Nordic club sport program, should students choose to do this and build on our past strengths and successes,” Geller said.
Funds to help keep coaches and ski trials will still be provided for by the administration. Any funding beyond that will come from student activity dollars if Nordic is approved for club sport status.
Alpers said the decision to keep Nordic became harder once teams in the MIAC began dropping the program. Only two other schools in the MIAC have competitive Nordic programs, and the decision was made CSB/SJU could not fund the sport anymore.
“As other dropped it, it just got harder and harder (to keep it),” Alpers said.
Howe-Veenstra said being part of the MIAC influenced the decision as well.
“Our commitment to the MIAC is in black and white,” Howe-Veenstra said. “That is a clear commitment. We honored our agreement with the MIAC first.”
According to the administrators, CSB/SJU is not the only place facing budgeting problems. They stated all the schools in the state are facing budgeting problems due to rising gas prices and fees, which are hard to plan for. Even then, Geller said CSB/SJU is especially affected.
“Our budgets are pretty minimal compared to our competition, and we are painfully aware of that,” Geller said.
The senate also focused on how the news was broken to the Nordic ski team. Sen. Sarah Reisdorf asked if the team had been aware of possibly being cut.
“They weren’t aware of all that was on the table,” Mullin said.
The senate also asked what they could do to help the team.
“Lend your expertise, club auditors,” Geller said. “Be there for them and understand it is a loss. There comes a time when you have to accept the loss and move on.”
Tags: CSB Senate, SJU Senate