Thursday, January 10, 2008

Some at JMU see benefits

We hesitated to post on this story because it falsely implicates Title IX in the cuts that occurred at JMU. But, in the end, it actually supports the contentions made by many of us who know this was all about budget and priorities.
The article in JMU's student paper, The Breeze, describes the better situation the women's swim team finds itself in now that more funds have been devoted to the team. The number of scholarships has increased which has lead to a strong freshman class of recruits and potential for better recruiting going forward. And both athletes and coaches are noting the improvements.
The writer is clearly wrong when he notes that because of the "Title IX based decision" the team is "fully funded" this year. The swim team benefited from JMU scaling back its very large athletics program and providing the remaining sports with better funding.