Cutting teams v. cutting the extras

The proposed sports cuts, when they take effect, will save the OU athletic department $685,000 … out of a $13.6 million budget. A budget that large begs the question of whether there are other ways to save. For example, would cutting some of the many extras offered to student athletes be sufficient to save four university teams?

My friend is a student and soccer player for the Hiram College terriers, an NCAA Division III sports team at a school of about 800. Due to NCAA regulations, the school can’t even offer athletic scholarships, but that never stopped the coach from putting his athletes’ applications on the top of the pile for academic scholarships, nor did it stop the college from pouring funds into meals, maids and laundry services for athletes. Sure, the laundry people are only supposed to wash uniforms or whatever laundry can be crammed onto the ring on which the uniform is washed. My friend can actually squeeze a shockingly respectable percentage of her weekly wardrobe choices onto the ring.

In talking to non-athletes, it seems that athletes are offered an unfair number of advantages, from priority scheduling to laundry services to free trips. Granted, the life of a student athlete is far busier and more complicated than that of the average undergrad. Yet, I plan to try to look into the university athletics budget more closely to see how much money is actually spent on athletic equipment and scholarships and how much goes to dinner at 7 Sauces. I’m also curious to see how much the coaches of each team make. If OU is going to cut entire athletics team, I would like to at least be reassured that it is a last resort.