As we reported last week, Concordia University Irvine in California announced the elimination of four athletic programs: men’s and women’s swimming & diving and men’s and women’s tennis. All four cuts will take effect at the end of this school year.
While the university attributed the decision to rising operational costs and facility limitations, that rationale appears to conflict with other developments. In the same window the cuts were announced, the school reaffirmed its commitment to the remaining athletic programs in a separate email—detailing a $25.5 million investment in athletic infrastructure.
In its original public statement, Concordia stated, “University leadership, in partnership with the Department of Athletics, determined that the current model is not sustainable in the midst of increasing operational costs, facility limitations, and significant changes in the collegiate athletics landscape.”
But in an email to athletes in unaffected sports, Crystal Rosenthal, who doubles as the Associate Vice President of Athletics and head softball coach, wrote: “I want to reassure you that your program remains secure and a vital part of our campus community. More than that, I want to emphasize the tremendous commitment the university continues to make to Golden Eagles Athletics.”
The email went on, “We are currently in the midst of a major $17.5 million construction project that includes a new 19,000-square foot facility featuring a state-of-the-art weight room, locker rooms, and modern training room space. This facility represents our belief in the future of our athletic programs and our student-athletes.”
It continued, “In addition, the university has invested over $8 million in upgrades to our baseball, softball, and soccer/track/lacrosse facilities—including the installation of lights on each of our outdoor fields. These enhancements are not just physical improvements—they are a reflection of our belief in your potential and our commitment to giving you the tools and environment to succeed at the highest level.”
The contrast between the stated reasons for the cuts and the $25.5 million upgrade to athletic facilities has raised questions from athletes, alumni, and observers—particularly regarding swimming, which, along with water polo, trains off-campus at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center and places minimal operational and facility demands on the school, despite those being cited as primary reasons for its elimination.
Student-athletes impacted by the cuts will retain their scholarships if they choose to remain enrolled. According to federal data, the swimming program had 23 men and 25 women this season, finishing 6th on the women’s side and 4th on the men’s at the PCSC Championship meet.
Concordia, a private, Lutheran-affiliated school with 1,474 undergraduates, transitioned from the NAIA to full NCAA Division II membership in 2017. Varsity athletes make up nearly a third of the student body. With these cuts, the athletics department is reduced to 20 varsity programs (counting all track & field disciplines separately) and continues not to field a varsity football team.
The swimming program joins Union Commonwealth University in Kentucky and fellow California school Cal Poly as programs eliminated this summer.
Speeding headlong into further (but poorer) irrelevance
The AD is also the Softball coach…it was only a matter of time before the swim program was cut, and more investments were made into things that would benefit her program and her athletes. Concordia’s upper management is a joke. Just another university that hires within, and creates conflicts of interests that should never exist. Yes, this is upsetting and I feel for the current athletes, as well as the athletes that were committed….but this decision doesn’t surprise me. What does surprise me is that the doors are even still open at Concordia Irvine.
Yes, this is very disturbing.
In addition, they are keeping the men’s and women’s water polo teams, who also train at Woollett, so there will not even be operational savings since they are still required to rent pool space.
In comparison to other sports at the school, the swim teams have been one of the higher achieving team, and more importantly one of the stronger group of students in the classroom.
From speaking with a retired employee who have worked in the university, they’ve shared that there is not much expertise within the admin departments running the school. Lots of feelings based decisions and politics based on your church affiliation. There should be questions into how the… Read more »
The swimming/water polo teams can’t use the pool at the same time, right? If they’re only using the pool half as often, I would presume their rent would go down by some percentage, do you have different information about their contract that would dispute this?
Things could very well have changed since my time as a student athlete, but water polo and swim most definitely split the pool for both morning and afternoon workouts!
We trained yards in the warm up pool, and water polo used the deep end.
Things could have changed since I graduated, but swim and water polo did split the pool space. I am not aware of the associated costs, it may be per lane rental, so there could be some type of cost related savings, but nothing I would justify dropping one and keeping the other.
The biggest cost for a swimming & diving program at this scale is almost always pool time.
While I recognize that athletics administration often makes bad decisions…I have to believe that there are enough layers above an AD, especially in a ‘network university’ like this, that if the school was going to cut a program without reducing what they pay for pool rental time, someone from university administration would have intervened.
I don’t know that for a fact, but that would be a different layer of stupid.
translation: we see little to no media or revenue potential in S&D
It’s a virtually unknown D2 program, even for many who live in the area. There is little to no media or revenue potential for the entire athletic department, other than parents/friends/relatives. This is a perfect case of swimming just not being the preferred sport for the AD.
As a side note, I lived in Irvine for several years before I even learned that there even was a Concordia University in the City. Even now, I could not tell you where the school is located without the aid of a map.
This is a D2 school with less than 1,500 kids, sitting in one of the most saturated sports media markets in the world. Little to no media or revenue potential defines the whole athletic department….and that’s fine. Athletics at this level is about providing a positive athletic experience and attracting students to help enrollment.
I don’t think many, if any, D2 schools have the idea that they are going to make significant media revenue. The college sports market is way to saturated. Mid-majors are re-assessing if they even garner any media interest.
The likelier reason for D2 schools dropping programs is because of decreased enrollment projections. So many kids are looking for alternative options like trade schools, direct entry to work force, or state schools ($10K is cheaper than $40K). A school like Concordia, if 300 kids do not enroll, you lost 20% of revenue.
If anything, I would figure, for successful D2 athletic departments, this is a time where we can see D2 schools become more competitive with the mid-majors (e.g., Drury, Tampa,… Read more »
The enrollment issue is much more about shrinking number of available students. I’m guessing we lose at least 500 colleges in the next 15 years.
A very sad, yet clear, message regarding the value an athletic department associates with Swimming & Diving.
SSDD
So they had no reason to cut the team, they just didn’t want it.
That’s a bingo.
Same at Cal Poly. AD had a vendetta.
Any sport at a small school needs to be cultivating friends and influencers amongst the trustee board and regular financial contributors.