ST. CLOUD— St. Cloud State University willend its football and golf programsnext year to comply with a Title IX court order and manage budget shortages.
The changes will affect about 115 student athletes, sevencoaches and twograduate assistant coaches, according to St. Cloud State President Robbyn Wacker.
"(It's)a hard day," football coach Scott Underwood said, holding back tears. "You don't think of (the end)as how it went down today. It's not how youfigure it's the last time yougetto see the kids that you coach.
"You always say the hardest day ... is on senior banquet day, but obviously today is tenfold of that."
Men's soccer will be added to the school's athletic programto keep the program in compliance with National Collegiate Athletic Association rules.
St. Cloud State has to comply with theU.S. District Court's August order in a Title IX lawsuit by balancingthe opportunities and benefits it offers for female students in the athletic program.
In addition, the universityanticipates a $5.1 million budget deficit for the 2020 academic year.Athletic budgets have struggled under declining student athletic fees tied todeclining student enrollment and increasing costs, Wacker said.
"All three of these (factors) have converged and brought us to the table," Wacker said Monday."We know this is going to be tough for folks."
She met with coaches in October to talk about the challenges facing athletics, including the court order, she said.
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St. Cloud State released its plan to eliminate football and golfTuesday afternoon. The program changes start next fall.
Officials at the University of Minnesota-Crookston also said Tuesday the school is eliminating its football program because of costs.
Chancellor Mary Holz-Clause said the decision to discontinue any program is “extremely difficult." But the school says the football program has faced serious challenges from lack of funding.
What does Title IX have to do with it?
In 2016the university removed six athletic programs, including men's and women's tennis and Nordic skiing. That led to a lawsuit, with athletes claiming the university violated Title IX, a 1972 U.S. lawthat prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs funded with federal dollars.
The judge found St. Cloud State didn't complywith Title IX from at least 2014and ordered the university to fix the imbalance.In part, the school needsto better align the proportion of female and male athletes with the proportion men and women who arefull-time, degree-seeking undergraduate students at the university.
Eliminating football and golf was the only way St. Cloud State found toaddress its financial challenges while complying with the court's order, Wacker said.
Story continues below.
Wacker playedvolleyball for Colorado State University before Title IX became law, and her team did not have enough resources foruniforms, she said Monday."We are grateful for Title IX. We think Title IX provides a quality experience for both men and women."
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Right now the university has 19 teams.That will drop to 17,leaving six men's teams and 11 women's teams.
What are the budget issues?
St. Cloud State officials have talked often of budget shortfalls in the lastdecade.
The school's athletic programs faced budget cuts in 2010, and then-President Earl Potter consideredcutting the football team, but it was saved by a campus vote to raise student athletic fees to generate an expected $600,000 for the athletic department.The athletic program budget had a projected 2012 deficit of around $550,000 around that time.
In 2016, football and other sports hadroster reductions to cut costs.
Now the university at large and the athletic program are trying to adjust to more recent deficits.
The Huskies Athletics deficit reached more than $1.6 million in the last four years, according to a Tuesday news release from the university.
Ending the football and men's and women's golf programs will save about $1.2 million.Someof that will go to the new soccer team and other sports, saidDirector of Athletics Heather Weems.Some will go to general university funds.
The university is bracingfor a budget deficit next academic yearand put out pink slips to eight tenured faculty in September to save about $840,000.
RELATED:SCSU moves to lay off 8 faculty from library, theater and philosophy programs
Across the country, public universities and collegesface similar challenges — declines in student enrollment and decreases in state aid. Enrollment numbers this fall showed St. Cloud State's enrollment fell off more than other universities in the Minnesota State system.
RELATED:Enrollment falloff more at SCSU than other Minnesota State universities
Why football and golf?
St. Cloud State's football program dates back to1895.
The football team haslarge roster of male athletes, 98 this year, Weems said. Thathad to be balanced out with opportunities for female athletes. And the university couldn't afford to add new women's teams.
Plus, support for football has waned, Wacker said.There were 58 football season ticket holders this fall.In the last three years, the average Huskies football gamedrew between 1,000 and 1,300 spectators, Weems said.
"Folks aren't attending football like they did 10 to 15 years ago," Wacker said. Other schools have dropped their programs, including Jacksonville University in Florida one week ago.
It's not clear what the change means for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The administration's frequently asked questions document called it a critical part of SCSU athletics, "and we are committed to the NSIC's success."
St. Cloud State has to have a men's or mixed gender sport in the fall, winter and spring to comply withNCAA rules. Soccer will fill that autumn niche for SCSU in the future.
Soccer is increasingly popular among junior and high school students, Wacker said. And at $250,000, it will also be less expensive than football.
Twenty scholarships are dedicated to the football and golf programs; some of those scholarships are split or shared among more than one athlete.
The university will help student athletes who wish to transfer and honor scholarships for up to four years, according to the university.
There are eight women and eight men who play golf at St. Cloud State.It's a fall and spring sport.
The school's golf facilities are "very limited," Weems said. And it was tough to get the athletes time on the course during harsh weather.
Those limits compounded with the school's other considerations, and golf didn't make the cut.
What's next for SCSU?
The university has to submit to the court its plan to comply withTitle IX by February.
And leaders will start looking for a men's soccer coach right away to start play in the fall.Homecoming 2020 atSt. Cloud State will feature hockey and volleyball games.
Weems will also launch a strategic planning session in the spring to set up a three-year plan with a review of facilities, a re-investment strategy and exploration of an eSports club addition to the athletic program, according to the frequently asked questions.
Local Rep.DanWolgamott, who serves on the HouseHigher Education Finance and Policy committee,talked about the decision in the context of funding all of higher education.
“Higher Education is facing a challenging fiscal environment, which leads to tough decisions,"Wolgamott said Tuesday. "I feel our community’s disappointment in SCSU ending the football & golf programs, and remain committed to properly funding our colleges & universities.”
RELATED:Faculty push back against St. Cloud State layoffs with grievance, protest
Academic and athletic units in the universitywill rely more and more on donations, Weems said Monday. "In terms of philanthropy as a whole, I think the university is relatively young in its efforts."
The administration is still working on other savings to manage its budget deficit, Wacker said."We're thinking about where we need to move to be more competitive."
"You have to adapt to the changing landscape," Wacker said. "This is a wonderful university. We're doing great things. We just have to responddifferently."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
