#10: D’Youville opens its Esports arena. (link) |
#9: The North Carolina Supreme Court rejects former Winston-Salem State Football HC Kienus Boulware’s wrongful termination lawsuit against the university. (link) |
#8: The latest Field Hockey Rankings have Shippensburg and Assumption atop their respective regions. (link) The first Football (link), Men’s Soccer (link) and Women’s Soccer (link) regional rankings are out and listed in alphabetical order.
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#7: Lake Erie’s multi-team Men’s Basketball event will feature Utah Tech (DI) and Youngstown State (DI). (link) |
#6: Palm Beach Atlantic Women’s Lacrosse HC Katy Richardson is stepping down after two seasons due to health reasons. (link) |
#5: Kentucky Wesleyan will discontinue Men’s and Women’s Cross Country and Track & Field, Men’s Bowling and Cheer at the end of the cross country season, with the latter two to move to club sports status. AD Mark Shook stating: “The hard truth is that we cannot continue to support such a high number of intercollegiate programs given the reduction of tuition revenue that is being generated currently by fewer number of students who are attending colleges across the country. We have to reduce our sport offerings to better match our resources, facilities and staff within our athletic program. There is no good time to deliver such difficult news. We have decided to move forward with the announcement now to provide our student-athletes and recruits with as much time as possible to explore options in the coming months, and to preserve their eligibility, should they elect to continue their collegiate athletics careers elsewhere. … We are committed to having an athletics program that is competitive and offers a transformative student-athlete experience for our student-athletes. An athletics program that gives our coaches and student-athletes a chance to compete and succeed at a high level." (link)
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#4: The NCAA Woman of the Year Selection Committee announces the national Top 30 honorees for the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. (link) |
#3: Baldwin Wallace (DIII) Dean of the College of Education and Health Sciences Steve Dittmore writes on the broader small college landscape in the wake of Kentucky Wesleyan’s reduction in sports last week. Dittmore notes the trend of adding sport programs is down, especially in DII, writing: “This suggests there is a cost-benefit ratio for having sports teams, and many universities may have hit that threshold.” Financially: “[AD Mark] Shook’s quote regarding the ‘reduction of tuition revenue that is being generated currently by fewer number of students who are attending colleges across the country’ is telling in the wake of this 53 percent athlete number. It suggests, to me, that in order for athletics to operate at KWC, it relies on non-athlete tuition to help meet overall athletic expenses, which, in 2021-22, totaled $6.8 million. It also implies the college believes it is better off with, potentially, 10 percent fewer students (if all track athletes transfer) than it is paying the expenses generated by these programs. This also continues another trend. Universities which have more athletes than non-athletes may be more at risk of financial calamity.” In closing, Dittmore extrapolates this across small college athletics: “I believe we are entering a weird time in higher education and sense further contraction, both in terms of school closures and the number of sports sponsored, is ahead. The data already suggests the trend toward adding sports at enrollment-driven institutions may have passed and, if KWC’s process is any indication, who knows how college athletics will look in five years.” (link); Following the decision to eliminate sports, Kentucky Wesleyan will eliminate 32 positions, most of which are already vacant. President Thomas Mitzel on the state of higher education: “The reality is that, right now, there are 15 million undergraduate-aged students..18 to 22. There are 45 million people who are looking, or have already participated in some sort of online education. So, the national trends are shifting a little bit and we want to be able to shift with them.” (link)
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#2: Lewis AD John Planek will exit for the same role at Dominican (DIII) after 12 years leading the Flyers. Planek: "With back-to-back record enrollment for first-year students at Dominican and an administration that is motivated to be athletically successful, this opportunity in my own backyard makes this a great fit for me personally and professionally." (link)
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#1: Eastern New Mexico AD Paul Weir will step down effective December 1 to take a senior leadership position at Abilene Christian (DI). Chancellor James Johnston: "We certainly appreciate Dr. Weir's leadership and wish him the best in this next career step. He has advanced our athletics department and leaves Eastern New Mexico University Athletics Programs poised to do great things in the future." (link)
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