The axing of four sports by Ohio University was unfortunate but necessary. We can argue about whether it was fair to the athletes but it had to be done. Like most of the recent university administration's decisions, it was swift, brutal and without debate. It might be a bitter pill to swallow, but in this moment the university is right.
Ohio University is not alone. OU was the eighth MAC school to drop athletic programs since 1999. Just to highlight a few of our rivals: Miami University got rid of men's tennis, soccer and wrestling and Bowling Green eliminated several men's sports, including tennis and swimming. They all had to make cuts, and most did it in the name of Title IX. OU is no better and no worse. It is even amazing that OU managed to hold out as long as it did. But in the end, other expenses proved too much for the Athletic Department to handle.
It has been a gut-wrenching experience for the athletes whose sports have been dropped. They were blindsided and never consulted and their collegiate experience has been forever changed. But financially, the right choice was made. This cut will save roughly $685,000 or 4.6 percent of the athletic department operating budget. This will hopefully go a long way to fixing the financial difficulties the athletic department has faced. It is not the fault of Kirby Hocutt either, who inherited mass debt and a money-hungry football program. In fact, Kirby was brought in to make decisions just like this. There was no simple solution, and it took hard answers.
The answers and the plan, though, should have been more transparent to those who were affected ' it's just common decency. This should have been avoided altogether, if the university had worked to fix budget problems earlier. As news on this story continues to develop, more information on the Athletic Department budget could change public opinion.
It is terrible that this campus was ripped apart because of a bad PR move on the part of the university. That was the only fault we can find. It is not necessarily the decision ' but the way the athletes were notified. The university has taken a lot of heat in the last week from outraged alumni and students whose passion is commendable. But in the heat of the moment, the heart of the issue is lost.
Let's face it, the university has problems ' lots of problems ' and the growing crisis over funding hasn't helped matters. As much as it pains us to agree with these cuts, we must. While it is a shame that 87 athletes, not including seniors, were sacrificed, remember there are 16 other teams fielded by the university with other athletes who also need support.
This should serve as a lesson for McDavis, as the problem might have been avoided if he had held other departments accountable. There has been a lot of irresponsible behavior when it comes to finance at OU. This was another in a long series of bad moments for the university that could have been avoided.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post executive editors.
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Dropping of sports will benefit long-term budget, though secretive decision-making is problematic
