Murray State To Restructure Sponsored Sports

A firm commitment to continue progress toward Title IX compliance, coupled with pending university cost-containment initiatives, has caused Murray State University to reevaluate the sports it sponsors at the NCAA level.

As a result, the University is announcing that the sport of Softball will be added to the varsity line-up, while the sport of Rowing will be discontinued. Dr. Randy Dunn, President of Murray State, has also charged Director of Athletics Allen Ward with the responsibility of planning to move the sport of equestrian from club level to NCAA varsity status.

“It is vitally important that we continue progressing toward proportionality while sustaining the level of athletic achievement everyone expects. I project that adding the sports of softball and equestrian will allow Murray State to achieve proportionality,” said Director of Athletics Allen Ward. “At the same time, dealing with the budget cuts are a challenge and athletics will share in the responsibility of addressing these financial setbacks.”

“Therefore, we [the university and athletic administration] looked at this as an opportunity to fully evaluate the sports Murray State sponsors,” said Ward. “It was important that we address the annual budget in a manner that does not jeopardize the opportunity for competitive success across the board. Our evaluation concluded that the sport of rowing does not ideally fit programmatically at the university, so we are choosing to replace it with sports that are more identifiable with the Murray State service region.”

“As a result, we are using these tough times to meet our cost containment goals, realign our sport sponsorship to better serve the community and region, but most importantly, provide greater opportunities for female participation,” Ward continued. Mr. Lamar Daniel, Murray State's Title IX consultant will visit campus in the fall to conduct a follow up review to ensure the program is positioned to meet its proportionality goals.

“Decisions like this are never easy,” said Ward. “The young ladies associated with the rowing program are first class. They achieve in the classroom, and have represented Murray State well. I regret that this decision will affect them directly, but I firmly believe it better serves the interests of our current and prospective students.”

Softball will begin competition in 2009-10. Rowing will be discontinued at the conclusion of the 2007-08 season. This will allow for cost containment measures to be implemented without jeopardizing the future Title IX plans already in place at the University. “Most importantly, the net affect of this decision will increase participation opportunities for females, provide greater scholarship funding for women's sports at Murray State, and embrace the particular interests of the West Kentucky region and the students we serve,” said Ward.

“Programmatically, the sport of softball just makes sense,” Ward added. “Western Kentucky is a hotbed for softball and I expect we can be competitive in a relatively short period of time. Until this announcement, we were the only OVC member not to sponsor softball.”

“And although Equestrian is not sponsored at the conference level, it is classified as an emerging sport for women by the NCAA and will certainly align with the mission of the university and its renowned School of Agriculture,” stated Ward. “Currently, the equestrian club team has over 50 participants, while the active roster for rowing is less than 30.”

The athletic scholarship commitments for the current student-athletes in rowing will be honored for the 2008-09 academic year. The athletic department's NCAA compliance office will work to assist the affected student-athletes should they desire to participate at another institution. Murray State will provide full and unconditional releases to any student-athlete wishing to continue their career in the sport of rowing.

Further details related to the addition of softball will follow in the coming months as plans for facilities, locker rooms, office space, and support services are finalized.

Murray State University

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