Dear Editor,
The more things change, the more they stay the same. So it waswhen I learned about the executive decision by the president andthe athletic director of Ball State University to unceremoniouslyremove men's cross country and track and field from the school'sathletic program in an ill-advised attempt to, once again, bail outthe football program.
Almost 20 years have passed since I lived at the vanguard ofexactly the same issue. In 1985, I was a senior captain of thetrack team when we were notified that, during Spring Break, theadministration had decided to cut our teams to shore up the houseof Cards that was (is?) Ball State football. The facts then werelargely the same as they are today: Ball State -- and by extension,the Mid-American Conference -- was consistently an also-ran in thespectrum of NCAA Division 1A football.
Yet there were those who persisted in deluding themselves. Theythought that by cutting non-revenue sports, they would free upenough capital to make the football program solvent. Not evenvoodoo economics could make $100,000 in savings enough to cover a$1 million shortfall.
But through the tireless efforts of alumni, faculty, staff andstudent athletes, we saved our teams. We won full reinstatement ofthe programs because the administration had the courage tore-evaluate and overturn its decision in the context of what wouldbenefit the entire university.
In the years since, Ball State has continued to offeropportunities to many student athletes in many sports rather thannarrow its offerings to a select few. This has allowed hundreds ofathletes to experience the benefits of combining intercollegiateathletics and academics and serve as ambassadors of the universitywhile learning valuable lessons for themselves.
I know first-hand the value of this. While at Ball State, I hadthe opportunity to study as a Whitinger Scholar and graduated summacum laude from the College of Architecture and Planning, but I cansay without qualification that my experiences on the track teamplayed an equally valuable part in the quality of my education.
As a MAC Scholar Athlete of the Year and three-time NCAAAcademic All-American, it was an honor to represent Ball Statethroughout the country. It is an honor I hope the newadministration will make possible for future athletes by restoringthe cross country and track and field programs, just as itspredecessors did almost 20 years ago.
Craig D. Farnsworth
alumnus
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