Public Outcry Rises Over U of M Decision to Cut Men’s Track and Field

Nationwide support backing Minnesota Track and Field athletes became increasingly vocal following the announcement by the University of Minnesota Athletic Director Mark Coyle that four men’s varsity programs would be discontinued after the 2020-21 seasons.

Coyle made his announcement in an open letter addressed to the University of Minnesota Athletics Community on Sept. 10. 

The letter began with a brief history and overview of Minnesota athletics before discussing financial issues caused by the pandemic. The letter next announced that men’s indoor track and field, men’s outdoor track and field, men’s tennis, and men’s gymnastics will be discontinued at the end of the academic year. 

An increasingly vocal movement has formed in a fight to reinstate the men’s track and field programs.

Since the announcement, a change.org petition asked for reinstatement and has amassed over 25,000 signatures. Organizers made a website to house the complaints of those fighting for the program. On top of this, student-athletes fought for the programs survival by marching in their defense.

The hashtag #SAVEUMNMENSF has been a banner to organize under.

The fight to save the programs has reached beyond campus and into the track and field community worldwide.

NCAA champions, Olympians, and World Champions alike have come together and voiced their disagreements with the university for this decision. 

Among the leaders fighting for reinstation is senior Owen Hoeft, a captain on the track and field team at Minnesota. He argues that this decision will have widespread consequences that the university did not take into account. 

“Growing up in Minneapolis, this is truly heartbreaking not only for athletes on the team, and alumni, but for high school kids and coaches,” Hoeft said.

“This program provides motivation for numerous high schoolers to push themselves in a sport they love. My high school teammates and I always looked up to this program, and when we got the chance to race at the U of M in high school, we would take it very seriously.”

Hoeft, who works at a local running store, said the level of support from the local community is not surprising. According to Hoeft, they can be “very influential and powerful.” 

Hoeft also said that the support “rival” schools’ coaches and athletes gave him is not surprising.

“It is ultimately to save our sport, and Olympic sports on a larger level,” said Hoeft. 

The University of Minnesota is not the first school to cut a track and field program in the myriad of issues that have come about from Covid-19. Brown University was one of the first major schools to do so in May, before public backlash prompted reinstatement of the program. 

Former head coach of the Women’s track and field team at Minnesota, Gary Wilson sees this as growing trend, and something that the track-and-field community will need to fight for some time. 

“If this is the route we take, it will kill Olympic sports not only here, but it will kill Olympic sports all over the country,” said Wilson.

One of the arguments being made against the university is a lack of transparency as well as, a lack of trust in the information given out by the athletic department. In the initial letter, Coyle listed both financial struggles the department was facing, and the necessity to comply with Title IX regulations.

The people in opposition did not meet these oppositions happily. They argue that the level of transparency was not high enough. Arguing that students should not have to pay for irresponsible financial decisions made by adults. 

“The level of transparency is truly embarrassing for the U of M athletic department,” said Hoeft. 

“There were many parts of the puzzle purposely left out to create a one-sided argument. And recently with the women’s cuts being confirmed by a source in the athletic department, it’s a no brainer that this was the plan all along,” said Hoeft.

Title IX restrictions focus primarily on offering equal opportunity for women as it does for men. The University of Minnesota athletic department complies by mirroring the student body representation of women in the athletic department.

According to 2019 University of Minnesota: Student Enrollment data, the ratio on campus is 46% male, 54% female. The letter from Coyle said that this decision will impact 58 male student-athletes. A source from the department said this week the decision will result in a number of cuts to women’s programs.

Cited as one of the underlying reasons for making these cuts is budgetary issues within the athletic department. Coyle’s letter estimated that the athletic department would lose $75 million this fiscal year.

Wilson argues that poor financial management by adults should not result in college kids paying the price. According to Wilson, the athletic department has spent millions of dollars in an attempt to keep up with the Joneses. Wilson said that this spending has resulted in a massive deficit. 

It is this deficit that, according to Wilson, they are now trying to pay out. He said that the financial argument Coyle has made does not add up to the result that it causes. 

In his letter, Coyle estimated that the cuts would result in savings of $2 million. According to the letter, the athletic department will take out a loan to cover the other $73 million. According to Wilson, there isn’t much difference between a loan for $75 million, or $73 million if it means the loss of athletic opportunity for students.

“These young kids are paying the price for bad decisions made by adults,” said Wilson. 

According to the announcement, there is no fundraising goal to save the teams. According to the open letter, fundraising was not a sustainable option. Due to the fact that they made the decision for more than one reason.

The decision to remove the four sports is not official yet. The University of Minnesota Board of Regents will vote on it in their meeting Oct. 9.