CSUN President Assailed Over Way Cuts Made

NORTHRIDGE — Cal State Northridge President Blenda J. Wilson came under attack Friday from students and members of her own faculty advisory board for her decision to eliminate four men’s athletic teams at the university.

Even with the campus largely empty after graduation, the controversy raged by way of telephone calls, faxes and e-mail messages.

The Associated Students--the student government--issued a scathing condemnation, characterizing the cuts as a broken promise to students, who voted for a $27 annual fee increase two years ago with the understanding it would preserve their sports teams.

Some members of the University Budget Advisory Board complained that, contrary to public statements by Wilson, they were not fully consulted.

“We were not given enough facts. There was never a discussion or debate,” said Shahid Ansari, a board member and accounting professor who circulated critical e-mail among professors. “You cannot make cuts of this nature without the board.”

Wilson argued that she had told the board during an April 28 meeting that some sports might be eliminated to meet gender-equity requirements because there was no money to add women’s teams. She acknowledged that there was no discussion of possible alternatives.

“I recall saying explicitly to the group, as they were leaving, that if in the next few days they had any other thoughts or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to let me know,” Wilson said.

CSUN eliminated the baseball team and men’s volleyball, soccer and swimming teams Wednesday, blaming a combination of financial pressures and the need to meet a legal deadline to bring the numbers of female student athletes into line with those of men.

Under a 1993 settlement of a lawsuit brought by the California chapter of the National Organization for Women, based on gender equity laws, CSUN and all other Cal State campuses must have roughly even numbers of male and female athletes by fall 1998.

Women represented only 39% of CSUN’s varsity athletes this year. Until recently, university administrators said they had enough money to increase the number of female athletes by adding three women’s teams. When the budget proved too tight for that--the athletics department has run up an $800,000 deficit--administrators decided to balance the ratio by cutting men’s teams.

Of the five sports being considered for elimination, only the golf team--with just eight members and 1 1/2 scholarships--was spared. Among those cut, baseball and volleyball had brought national attention to the campus.

In statements Thursday, Wilson said that she decided on the cuts after consulting with her budget advisory board. But members of the board had a different memory of what transpired.

More than a month ago, the board--which includes faculty, staff and students--convened to hear a report from Athletic Director Paul Bubb.

The only initial indication of drastic action came in the form of a single item on Page 6 of Bubb’s 10-page report, Ansari said. It stated that although a CSUN task force recommended “staying broad-based in our sports offerings, this may not be possible.”

Ansari recalled asking: “Paul, what does Item No. 4 mean? Are we cutting sports?

“Before he could answer,” the professor said, “Blenda said ‘Where do you see that? There’s no mention of cutting sports.’ ”

Bubb said he told the board that some sports might be cut, but he did not recall saying how many or which ones. Board member Cheryl Spector, an English professor, said that Wilson shifted the conversation to another agenda topic before the board could fully discuss the matter.

“I think it was clear that I considered it a very serious problem,” Wilson said. “If Cheryl Spector and Shahid Ansari wished to have more discussion, that clearly would have been their option.”

But the two board members said they were given the impression that the issue would be revisited at a later meeting and were caught by surprise when the cuts were announced earlier this week. Both had been eager to explore the possibility of eliminating football, the school’s costliest sport.

Dropping football would have gone against the grain of a 1995 decision to join the Big Sky Conference. Though the conference offers CSUN teams quality competition and a better chance at reaching NCAA playoffs, it has hurt the university financially because the Big Sky requires that CSUN keep football.

Conference membership is also a bone of contention with the student association.

Two years ago, Wilson enlisted the association’s help in campaigning for a $27 increase in student fees, which she promised would allow CSUN to keep all sports.

She could not keep that promise, however, when the university joined the more expensive Big Sky conference, she said.

Now the student officeholders who passed the fee increase feel betrayed.

“I have memos in my office from the administration telling me [the cuts were] the ‘ethically right’ choice to make,” student President Bradley Marsh said in a written statement. “Lying to 27,000 students is not quite ethical.”

Not all of the reactions were so negative, however.

One advisory board member, James Gross, supported Wilson and said the board’s job is to advise on dividing university funds between departments, not on how the departments should spend their money.

And some e-mail comments came from those who think elimination of the teams was justified.

“Words are cheap,” one message said. “I applaud Wilson for her decision. Academic programs come first.”

Even Ansari and Spector stopped short of condemning Wilson’s decision. It was the way the decision was made that bothered them.

“It’s a smart group, a caring group,” Spector said of the board. “I wish we’d had the chance to offer advice.”