In an e-mail to the Ball State community, university president Blaine Brownell said the university is being "more open" than other universities that have faced similar athletic program sagas.
The three-page "President's Perspective" reviewed the events surrounding a June 2 recommendation to eliminate six of Ball State's 22 athletic teams. A motion to support that recommendation was later voted down by the athletics committee of the University Senate on June 10.
Brownell said while steps have been made toward addressing the athletics' budget crisis, the process is far from over.
"I want to emphasize that the ad hoc committee's recommendation and the vote of the athletics committee are in no way final," Brownell said in the e-mail. "(Athletics Director) Bubba (Cunningham) will consider factors beyond what the committees were asked to review, and so will I, once Bubba has made a recommendation to me. In the end, I will share information regarding a final recommendation with the Ball State Board of Trustees."
The e-mail also stated the priority of university is to maintain its NCAA Division IA status and therefore stay in the Mid-American Conference.
"Our alumni, current students, and others would see it as a blow to the reputation of Ball State if the university were to drop to a lower division or relinquish membership in the MAC," according to the e-mail.
To remain at the Division IA level, Ball State is required to participate in at least 16 sports. The MAC mandates that its members must field Division IA teams in six core sports: football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, softball and women's volleyball. For Ball State to meet these conditions and balance the athletics budget, Cunningham appointed an ad hoc committee to find a solution.
"The committee considered nearly a dozen options before recommending the reduction of six sports -- men's swimming and diving, men's indoor track, men's outdoor track, men's volleyball, women's field hockey and women's gymnastics -- as the way to simultaneously reallocate the most funds within the budget and comply with Title IX," Brownell said in the e-mail.
Ball State athletics committee chairwoman Carma Shawger declined to comment on the e-mail.
Cunningham applauded Brownell's move to inform the Ball State faculty and staff of the current situation.
"I think the discussion it brings up is definitely worth having," Cunningham said. "There are certainly many issues we still have to resolve this summer."
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