The Elimination of Varsity Sports at a Division I Institution

Abstract

The elimination and subsequent reinstatement of five varsity sports at the University of California, Berkeley during the 2010-11 academic year may provide a modern success story in college sports, but the events which transpired at Berkeley also exposed many of the fundamental tensions inherent to NCAA Division I athletics today. This success story might be read as a cautionary tale, highlighting the exclusion of the college athletes themselves within the decision-making process. While their sports were ultimately saved, these young people's lives were transformed. Grounded in critical theory, this study provides a systematic evaluation of student athlete responses to sport elimination, examining their perceptions of the decision-making process and the reasons underlying why particular sports were eliminated while others were not. Although gender equity issues were considered important to the decision, few gender differences were found among the impacted college athletes. In addition to the perceived importance of financial considerations underlying the institutional decision to eliminate sports, participants also reported feeling that the university over-invested in revenue sports at the expense of non-revenue or Olympic sports.