MIT Forced To Cut Eight Varsity Sports Due To Budget, Economy
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Thursday dropped eight varsity sports, "citing upcoming budget cuts and the growing challenge of sustaining what was, along with Harvard's, the nation's largest intercollegiate program," according to John Powers of the BOSTON GLOBE. Eliminated as of the end of the current academic year "will be men's and women's ice hockey and gymnastics, plus wrestling, golf, Alpine skiing, and pistol." The reductions are "expected to make up the bulk of the $485,000 cuts to the budget for the department of athletics, physical education, and recreation, roughly 5[%] of this year's $9.7[M] figure." MIT "plans to chop its overall spending by [$100-150M] over the next two to three years, approximately 10-15[%] of its total." With 33 varsity sports, MIT still "will have the most of any school in Division 3, where the national average is 16." The MIT athletic department used a "Sports Health and Vitality" gauge to "determine which sports would be deleted, considering student interest, coaching turnover, availability of appropriate competition, quality and proximity of practice facilities, and program costs." Athletes from the eliminated sports "will be urged to join existing club teams or form new ones" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/24).
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