Dear Editor,
In a week during which Ball State University is honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., celebrating Unity Week and promoting diversity, I would like to raise once again one of the important questions the men's cross-country and track team members asked this summer when President Blaine Brownell and athletic director Bubba Cunningham made the "executive decision" to eliminate these sports: "Why did you choose to eliminate teams which particularly over the past 35 years have provided numerous opportunities for minority coaches and athletes?"
The Men's Track and Field teams at Ball State University have historically been at the forefront of hiring black coaches and leaders. Oatess Archey, a Ball State graduate and former assistant track coach, was the first black coach at the university. He has gone on to become the first black sheriff in Indiana. Steve Cooksey became the first black head coach at Ball State when he took over the track team in 1979. For the past 15 years he has served as the head track coach at the U.S. Naval Academy. Current head coach Jermaine Jones is the only black head coach amongst the 19 other teams at Ball State right now.
In addition to this history of opportunities for minority coaches, the Ball State men's track team has also provided significant opportunities for many minority athletes who have gone on to become outstanding alumni and productive members of society. One of those alumni athletes, Phil Dunn, has been a member of the Ball State administrative staff in admissions and curricular advising for over 25 years. Currently, the Ball State men's track team has the third-highest minority representation ratio within the athletic department, behind only men's basketball and football.
If Ball State University is truly concerned about racial diversity and providing opportunities for minority coaches and athletes the administration and/or Board of Trustees should rescind the decision to eliminate these programs, thus, insuring that the opportunities for minority coaches and athletes past and present at Ball State University, will not be lost and forgotten. This is the major reason why Miami University of Ohio, one of the schools in the Mid-American Conference, decided against the elimination of these programs.
Jerry L Rushton
Associate Professor Emeritus
Member, Board of Directors, Ball State University Center for Sport Ethics and Culture
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