University of New Orleans athletic director Tim Duncan is reaching out to donors to help his department weather a 25% budget decrease that has forced a reduction in scholarships to Privateer athletes.
“We don’t have as much money to offer student-athletes," Duncan said, as reported by local CBS affiliate WWL. "However, our coaches, they sacrificed a ton, and we think they can still be successful in spite of, but it will be a challenge for sure."
"The University of New Orleans already has one of the smallest budgets among NCAA Division 1 schools and it’s now getting even smaller," WWL's Paul Murphy reported. "As part of major spending cuts across campus, the UNO Athletics Department was ordered to slash its budget by 25%. That’s a reduction of more than 2 million dollars."
UNO enrollment has dropped from a high of about 17,000 students in 2003 to just over 6,000 today.
Related: UNO Looking to Slash Athletics Budget by 25% as Enrollment Craters
Duncan is now appealing to university boosters to help minimize the impact of the budget cuts on athletic programs and UNO’s student-athletes.
“We haven’t been public with our enrollment challenges,” Duncan said. “We haven’t been public about how that impacts athletics, so now we have that opportunity, it gives a chance to go out and talk more frankly with those who support us the best.”
Former UNO head baseball Coach Ron Maestri, whose name graces the Privateers' home field, said the university can’t spend like it has 12,000 students when it only has 6,000.
“I think we just have to tighten our belts and understand where we are,” Maestri said. “We need to get more students and we have to be more fiscally responsible with dollars that we do have.”
Maestri agrees with Duncan's appeal to the public. “We need help," he said, "but we have to show them that we’re using the money the right way and hopefully we can turn this thing around.”
Despite UNO’s financial challenges, it would be a mistake to drop down to Division 2 or 3 or eliminate sports altogether, according to Maestri.
“Let’s say you eliminated athletics at UNO, how much money would that really save? You’d lose about 200 students that’s number one and you need students,” he said, as reported by WLL. “These are students that are coming to the university, that are graduating from the university and hopefully, donating to the university."
