UC Davis to Drop Four Teams Due to Financial Crisis
April 16, 2010
The University of California, Davis, will discontinue four of its 27 intercollegiate sports, and its athletics department will absorb another $400,000 in annual operational cuts as the campus continues to struggle through an unprecedented financial crisis.
Women's rowing, men's wrestling, men's swimming and diving, and men's indoor track and field will be discontinued as of July 1. The loss of the teams directly affects 73 female student-athletes and 80 male student-athletes and the coaching staffs.
Early Friday morning, Director of Athletics Greg Warzecka informed the coaches of the discontinued teams, and the department sent e-mails to all student-athletes on active rosters.
At a news conference later, Fred Wood, vice chancellor for Student Affairs, said the cuts have a human toll. "What's happening here today," Wood said, "is a very real, very significant and very personal impact of the budget crisis in California and the resulting financial position of UC Davis.
"Our Aggie coaches and student-athletes are proud, talented and dedicated," he added. "Today, they are in mourning for teams and what those losses mean to them as individuals."
Budget crisis
Chancellor Linda Katehi said that dropping athletics teams and losing opportunities for student-athletes is regrettable but necessary. "The UC Davis community is confronting enormous financial challenges," she said.
"During my brief tenure as chancellor, I have come to appreciate the rich and unique athletic traditions at UC Davis," Katehi wrote in accepting the recommendations of Wood and Warzecka to adopt the plan that drops the four sports. "I believe this budget model provides
