The University of Minnesota plans to reduce non-revenue sports rosters by next year, meaning women student-athletes will be let go in addition to the full cutting of men's track and field, tennis and gymnastics.
A Gophers official confirmed to the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the university plans to have 98 fewer athletes on its non-revenue teams, meaning 41 previously unreported womenās athlete cuts in addition to 57 men affected by the elimination of the aforementioned three sports.
Beyond terminating those three menās programs, pending Board of Regents approval, the Gophers project smaller rosters for eight womenās and two menās teams, according to data obtained by the Star Tribune from the athletic department. Six menās teams and one womenās team are predicted to add to their rosters.
Womenās cross-country team, for example, is projected to have 20 athletes next fall, down from 34. The Gophers womenās rowing team will lose 15 athletes, according to the projections.
āWeāre not going to let it go down without a fight,ā women's cross country captain Tate Sweeney said. āIt feels like weāre objects rather than people.ā
As reported by the Star Tribune, the university is projecting major revenue losses due to the coronavirus pandemic, and is looking to save money in many ways. The school also needed to bring the gender balance of Gophers athletes into alignment with the student body. The current undergraduate enrollment is 54 percent women and 46 percent men.
But dropping the menās programs put the student-athlete ratio at 59 percent women and 41 percent men, forcing the university to shrink womenās rosters to get to the proper ratio.
The early September announcement of the sports cuts noted āroster adjustments in womenās programsā would be required, without offering specifics. Sweeney, a redshirt junior from Edina, said the athletic department has not informed her and her teammates about the reduction.
āNo one has told that to us,ā she said Wednesday. āWeāve been in meetings. We have said, āWith Title IX, and you cutting these men, it makes it so women have to get cut.ā ā¦ Theyāve told us itās not going to happen and that we are okay.ā
According to an athletic department spokesman, the athletic administration communicated with the head coaches of impacted womenās sports about the cuts. What that communication included, and whether that communication reached student-athletes, was unclear. The Star Tribune reports it has requested clarification from athletic director Mark Coyle since Monday to no avail.