In a meeting Sunday night, University athletes and coaches expressed concern about the Virginia 2020 Strategic Planning Task Force for the Department of Athletics recommendation for radical changes in the athletic department.
The task force's report recommended the elimination of men's indoor track and field, the addition of women's golf and the restructuring of the University's varsity sports into four tiers. Under the proposed restructuring, men's track and field would be a fourth-tier sport and participants would be able to receive only need-based financial aid and travel only within the region.
The task force suggested the changes to combat a growing athletics budget deficit, to deal with Title IX gender equality concerns and to maintain a high ranking in the Sears Director's Cup, which measures overall athletic success among colleges and universities.
The Board of Visitors agreed to send the report to two subcommittees and to discuss the recommendations at a later date.
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Senior Associate Athletic Director Craig Littlepage organized Sunday's information and discussion session. Dean of African-American Affairs M. Rick Turner, a member of the task force, was in the audience.
According to track and field coach Randy Bungard, the elimination of the indoor track and field team in the winter season would leave nothing to bridge the training and conditioning gap between cross country in the fall and outdoor track and field in the spring. The limitations on financial aid reduce the coaches' recruiting power, and the elimination of travel outside the region would prevent athletes from going to national meets. The athletes and coaches said they were concerned that these three proposals would create a daunting recruiting and competition obstacle that would lead to the demise of the Virginia men's track and field program.
"Those three things are a nail in the coffin," said second-year Charles Crimmins, a member of the men's track and field team. "It's going to kill the program."
Members and coaches of the track team expressed concern that the task force's proposals would also substantially reduce the number of minorities in varsity sports at the University.
"If you think about golf, lacrosse - there won't be many minorities in those sports," said second-year Curtrell Frye, a member of the women's track and field team. "By cutting off indoor track, you're cutting off minority recruits coming into the school."
According to Bungard, Turner revealed in the meeting that the task force did not consider how the proposed changes would affect minorities.
"There were so many other things they were worrying about, and gender was such the focus on this that race may have totally gotten lost in it," Bungard said.
Members and coaches of the track and field team who attended the meeting also said that they were troubled by their lack of involvement in the decision-making process.
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