Response to Raz From College Sports Council President

Dear Catherine,

Thank you for contacting the College Sports Council (CSC). I have heard the terrible news about Ohio U. dropping three teams. The CSC has worked with many people over the years to help save teams. From my experience, every situation is unique and requires a different approach to save the threatened programs. We have helped save teams at both public and private schools. I will tell you that it will require a tremendous amount of work from everyone involved including students, alumni, parents, and community supporters.

It is important to put your efforts in an effective sequence. Don't try to solve everything at once. My first recommendation to you as a student is to contact your student government and ask them to vote on a resolution. This resolution from the student government should ask the President of your school to delay the decision for three years, so that everyone on the threatened teams will be able to complete their careers at Ohio and not need to transfer. Getting this extension of time will also give you more time to fight to save the teams- This is key. The more time we have the better.

Student leadership is a very important part of every effort to save teams. An effective way to get visibility for your cause is to organize protests on campus. Work with all the teams and all the athletes to create a unified front of support. I have never seen a team saved by criticizing other sports. Work to get as many people as possible on your side, and if you focus first on the injustice of giving you no notice of this decision, it's hard for anyone to disagree with that.

As far as Title IX is concerned, it is unfortunate that the regulations have created a climate where administrators fear being sued, and they have been incentivized to drop teams in order to comply with the proportionality prong. We need to reform Title IX so that students have a strong voice in determining what programs a school sponsors. If students have a say in that process, very few programs will ever be dropped. That's why the CSC wants schools to survey students so that they can be empowered to express their interests. That said, let's focus right now on what we need to do to save your team, and that is first to get the student government on your side. We'll work on the Title IX reform after we get 3 more years for the teams.

Another way that you can demonstrate widespread support for delaying the decision is to collect as many signatures as you can on a petition. Once you've collected a good number of names you can then present the petition to the school president.

So those items are what I recommend as your step one. We will also work with parents and alumni and suggest certain efforts that will compliment yours on campus.

Keep in touch as to your progress.

Best Regards,
Eric Pearson
Chairman
College Sports Council
www.collegesportscouncil.org