Eastern Michigan, facing "steep budget shortfalls, will drop four of its sports program at the end of this school year," according to David Jesse of the DETROIT FREE PRESS. Getting cut are "softball, men’s swimming and diving, women’s tennis and wrestling." With the change, EMU, which "previously led the MAC with 21 sports, will now have 17 sports -- seven men’s sports and 10 women’s sports." The move "affects 58 male student-athletes and 25 female student-athletes, and once realized an expense reduction" of approximately $2.4M. The moves come as EMU "eliminates other positions in order to make up a projected budget deficit" of $4.5-5.5M for FY '18. The moves "don't touch the football program, which continues to be controversial, with many faculty hoping to see spending on the program cut." Those calls for cuts in football have "gone on for years, but there also was a renewed debate about athletics at Eastern Michigan in the past couple of years, including an HBO Real Sports segment on athletic department spending that was critical of Eastern Michigan" (FREEP.com, 3/20). In Michigan, Martin Slagter notes the reduction in programs "does not impact EMU's affiliation" with the MAC. The decision to reduce sports will align EMU with its MAC peers in terms of "types and total number of sports teams sponsored by the university" (MLIVE.com, 3/20).
