It’s official: Four Lobo sports are gone (Univ. of NM, men's soccer, victim of Title IX)

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | July 19, 2018 | Jessica Dyer and Geoff Grammer

[CedarDave]

In the first major program cuts since 1999, the University of New Mexico Board of Regents voted Thursday to eliminate four Lobo sports teams under a plan they say will improve the ailing athletic department’s overall health.

The governing board approved cutting men’s soccer, men’s and women’s skiing, and women’s beach volleyball despite more than two hours of public comment by opponents. Athletes, coaches, parents, alumni and other community members delivered impassioned pleas and some withering criticism of the proposal advanced by athletic director Eddie Nuñez and President Garnett Stokes. The two called the cuts a critical step toward addressing long-standing financial problems and newly surfaced Title IX compliance concerns.

Their plan also includes phasing out diving from the women’s swimming and diving program, significantly reducing men’s track and field participation slots, and increasing participation opportunities in some women’s programs.

The regents voted 6-0 to adopt the recommendation, eliciting boos and other taunts from attendees.

In May, the department released a report showing Lobo athletics is significantly out of compliance with federal Title IX mandates that require a university to provide equal opportunities to male and female student athletes at a proportionate rate to the general student body enrollment.

According to the report, females in the 2016-17 school year made up 55.4 percent of the general enrollment, but just 43.8 percent of the participation “opportunities” in the athletic department.

Under the plan approved by regents, the number of women athletes grows, while the number of men drops — resulting in a balance that complies with Title IX.

To get Title IX-compliant on a shrinking budget, Nuñez had no option, he explained, but to look hard at the elimination primarily of men’s sports.

[CedarDave]

The UNM Athletic Department budget has a $4.7 million dollar deficit, mainly due to poor attendance at first the perennial losing football program and secondly to the occasional losing basketball program. However, the UNM men's soccer program is wildly popular in the ABQ area with their successful performance in NCAA playoffs, just missing the national title in one year.

Also, to meet the Title IX requirement, the number of men allowed to participate in the remaining sports has been reduced, mainly in the track and field area.

Both the AD and university president are Anglo newcomers to New Mexico and were indirectly accused of not understanding the culture of the state, especially with respect to the popularity of soccer. I don't think this fight is over.

[CedarDave]

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[CedarDave]

I correct myself: The AD is Latino but he is new to New Mexico.

[Red Badger]

cutting men’s soccer, men’s and women’s skiing, and women’s beach volleyball

2 out of 3 ain't bad..................

[Fiji Hill]

Women’s beach volleyball? In New Mexico? Where did they play? On the banks of the Rio Grande?

[bk1000]

A few of the men should just identify as women to balance this horrible inequity!

/s

Seriously, isn’t it time to do away with Title IX? And how do they reconcile this with their embrace of this tranny nonsense? Come on people! Everybody knows this is stupid.

[Snickering Hound]

Sorry girls, there went your scholarship.

[Fiji Hill]

Their plan also includes phasing out diving from the women’s swimming and diving program

Perhaps the diving program doesn't have many members. These days, if you want to be a diver, there are very few places you can practice that sport. Thanks to government regulations and trial lawyers, diving boards have all but been eliminated in America. Even large institutions such as high schools can no longer afford to install diving boards due to formidable insurance costs.

[2banana]

Men are obviously under represented.

Will there be special quotas, lowering of standards and men only scholarships?

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

"and women’s beach volleyball"

Okay, this has OFFICIALLY gone too far.

[Dr. Pritchett]

Were ANY of those sports really bringing any revenue to the school? Get rid of all that stuff. Same with all the degree programs that don’t generate jobs.

[CedarDave]

Sorry girls, there went your scholarship.

Actually many if not all of them are on the women's volleyball team which continues. I think elimination of women's beach volleyball is a sop to women at the university who believe it's sexist in today's "me too" culture. And yes, they are very nice for men to look at.

[Flick Lives]

The governing board approved cutting men’s soccer, men’s and women’s skiing, and women’s beach volleyball

They are bringing onboard Olympic Virtue Signaling, however.

[Captain Compassion]

Men’s soccer? No problem. Those men wanting to play soccer merely need to claim themselves transgender and they can play on the woman’s team. I’m just sayin’

[CedarDave]

A little more about the success of the UNM men’s soccer program: UNM men’s soccer program has played in two Final Fours, one national championship game and has been a conference champion seven times since 2001.

[sphinx]

I don’t understand why there are no fans in the stands.

[CommerceComet]

A bunch of disjointed thoughts:

Should a university really be offering scholarships for some of these sports? Why aren't these club sports where the participants basically pay their own way?

The unintended consequences of Title IX have been huge. Participation of women has probably risen but at the cost of some men's sports, primarily wrestling.

New Mexico really picked a bad time to tank in football. They were in the abyss when the first round of conference realignment went around and were still bad when the Big 12 was considering adding teams. If football had been good to go along with a historically pretty good men's basketball program, UNM might have gotten some attention from either the Pac-12 or Big 12. Albuquerque is a reasonably large TV market, UNM would be the only P5 school in the state, and the academics aren't awful. The Lobos wouldn't have been a premium addition but may have been a decent partner with another addition.

It could be worse. The Lobos could be like Idaho dropping their football program down to FCS.

I think I could become a fan of beach volleyball.

[WASCWatch]

Actually many if not all of them are on the women's volleyball team which continues.

Not true at most schools. Even have separate coaching staffs.

[Tijeras_Slim]

The skiing part sucks. UNM had a lot of cross country skiers recruited from Norway and Sweden. They would do their dry land training on South 14. Frequently on my afternoon commute I would be treated to a bevy of tanned 6 foot blond ladies in bike shorts and sports bras roller skiing up the hill.

[Chickensoup]

Women’s beach volleyball? In New Mexico? Where did they play? On the banks of the Rio Grande?

______________

I have always thought of New Mexico as being all beach and no ocean.