A group of East Carolina alumni have raced $200,575 in pledged donations in just 2 days since launching a campaign to save the men’s and women’s swimming & diving programs.
Last week, the school cut the programs, along with men’s and women’s tennis, as part of its effort to close a $10 million budget shortfall. Athletics Director Jon Gilbert said that the program was already in financial trouble prior to the global coronavirus pandemic, but that the financial strain of that outbreak grew the pressure to make deeper cuts into the athletics program.
Organizers of the fundraising say that their goal is to reach $1.5 million in pledged donations. According to an East Carolina working group that examined the plan to cut spending in the athletics program, the combined estimated budget for the men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs for fiscal year 2020 was $640,000.
The department, however, pointed to long-term facility issues as part of the decision to cut the swimming & diving program.
The group is also applying for grants that have been donated to other athletics programs on campus.
They have not yet gotten any feedback from the athletics department on what it would take to save the program.
In addition to a petition, which has almost 15,000 signatures as of Tuesday morning, and new social media accounts dedicated to saving the programs, the group says that they believe that expanded rosters, and the tuition dollars that those rosters bring, would result in a net financial gain to the university. This is based on the work of a sports economists, who has made certain assumptions that do tend to favor the argument that these 4 cut programs are, on net, profitable.
Former head coach Rick Kobe, who won over 500 meets as an NCAA head coach, retired in 2017 after a 37-year career with the Pirates.
Key Information on how to help:
- To pledge a donation, email [email protected]
- For updates, follow @saveecuswimdive on Instagram
- For updates, follow @saveECUswimdive on Twitter
The East Carolina Pirates are the defending AAC champions in men’s swimming & diving, with four conference titles in six years as a member of the conference. The women finished 4th last year out of six programs. The team regularly qualifies swimmers for the NCAA Championship meet, including 1 female swimmer in 2020. Kristen Stege, in the first official mile race of her career, win the AAC title, broke the AAC Record, and qualified for the NCAA Championships. Stege previously announced that she will be transferring to Tennessee in the fall.
On the men’s side, the school was due to send butterflier Gustavo Santos to the NCAA Championships before they were cancelled. He was the 18th seed in the 100 fly. Santos was a senior.
I’m not surprised, my daughter swims for another team in this conference and I was so so impressed by the team spirit and camaraderie displayed by this team during the conference meet. I hope your efforts save the program!
Thank you so much for your support! Go Pirates!!!
Couple of thoughts:
1. ECU is a great school that has a terrific collegiate program offering both for NC student-athletes and abroad.
2. Student-athletes currently attending, like most programs facing adversity, are banding together which is terrific for their camaraderie.
3. Student-athletes currently at ECU should feel 0 obligation to a university that is showing them 0 support. These are your last 4 years, make them count somewhere where you are valued for the commitment you made.
4. Alumni of the program, like most facing adversity, are banding together which is terrific for their camaraderie.
5. Alumni of the program should feel 0 obligaton to “save” a program explicitly not being supported by its own athletic department.
Compelling those… Read more »
It can work! Fortunately, ASU #4 did not subscribe to #5. Donations can be linked with terms and conditions. Get a formal agreement in place with the university PRIOR to raising $$$.
I think it can too – and I agree: getting a formal agreement in writing first with the university should metrics be met is critical. The university not providing commitment on the back-end given financial support coming through from donors wouldn’t project hope. Hopefully that’s in motion, anyone know?
This is an explanation of why swim programs are doomed: https://www.si.com/college/2020/05/26/uconn-football-sports-cuts
Thank you for your support and getting our message out from a former ECU swimmer.
Thanks SwimSwam for the continued coverage. The leadership, discipline, and dedication that the swimmers and divers learned during our time on the ECU team is showing!! We are working hard to save the team. We welcome the continued support from all of the swimming community. And we understand that ECU is only the first domino to fall. It will be a shame if thousands of other young people do not get to experience collegiate swimming competition only because swimming is perceived to be too costly and more programs are shut down. We need the assistance from the swimming community, USA swimming, and the NCAA to save the sport as a whole at the college level and change the paradigm about… Read more »
Signed the petition
Thank you for your support and help!
Thank you for your support Braden. There is so much more to our story.