Blog de Puree

Say it ain’t so!

My Uncle just sent me an article, The saddest stroke of all, by Mark DiIonno, from the Star Ledger, a New Jersey newspaper. It looks like Rutgers is downgrading the Men’s Varsity rowing program to club status.

This means that the university will no longer be able to woo potential rowers like other university programs still can. It also means the possible end of a powerhouse rowing program that bred olympic and international rowing champions throughout its storied history.

What’s most interesting is that the shool contributed only $80,000 a year toward men’s rowing—$5,000 for scholarships and $75 for the coach’s salary. The rest of the money used for scholarships, equipment, travel, boats, trucks and maintenance came from alumni.

The article mentions the need for either boathouse upgrades or a new one altogether and $1 million has been raised so far. So why the downgraded status of one of America’s most historic rowing programs?

I rowed in the University of Tampa back in the early 90′s; the woman’s program was varsity and the men’s program was always club status. Tampa is a small school and its rowing program is known for being a Southeast Regional powerhouse, and my boats had a fair share of gold medals. We also lost a great rower who transferred after his freshmen year to row at Rutgers. Tampa’s program certainly does not compare to Rutgers fabled program, so that was a no-brainer for him. As a small university, Tampa did not have the money to generously support rowing at that time, nor did it have a vast rowing alumni network to rely on for additional funding.

The article did not mention the reasons why the Rutgers administration decided to downgrade the men’s program from Varsity to club. Rowing alumni from far and wide have been unsuccessful in their attempt to sway Rutgers president Richard McCormick and athletic director Bob Mulcahy. Some may point to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the fact that this legislation causes schools to spend less money on non-revenue-generating men’s sports programs. But then again, the eyes—and money—of rowers worldwide is often focused on Rutgers crew. The possibility that Rutgers was only spending $80,000, and still felt the need to cut that small amount of funding seems harsh.

As a rower who appreciates the Rutgers rowing tradition and what it means to the rowing community, I can only scratch my head as to why the administration has handicapped such a great program.

Addendum (Added 31 July 2008):

I spoke to my Uncle last night and it turns out that this scenario at Rutgers has been going on for a year. Apparently the men’s varsity rowing program is a victim of Title IX legislation.