Merging Pa. colleges look to save all sports programs
State System of Higher Education officials say they have a plan to save the current complement of athletic teams on all six stateowned universities facing mergers, including California, Clarion and Edinboro in Western Pennsylvania.
The fate of those sports programs has been a sticking point as officials contemplate blending those three institutions into one, as well as combining Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield universities in the northeast. All are among the system’s 14 state-owned universities facing redesign amid declining enrollment, sharp workforce changes and other stresses that now include a pandemic.
Those sports programs, aside from engendering campus affinity, are a significant recruiting tool for a system hoping to rebound from a 22% enrollment loss since 2010. But each program costs substantial amounts of money for operations and facilities.
“The intent with Mansfield, Bloomsburg and Lock Haven in the northeast as well as the western integration is to maintain the full complement of athletic programs at each campus,” said Ryan McNamara, a spokesman for Mansfield. “We are currently pursuing a path with the NCAA that would allow for that.”
Asked whether it would apply to programs competing in various conferences, he replied, “Yes, it would apply to all programs.” Most of the universities’ teams compete in the NCAA Division II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
Reached late Thursday, a spokeswoman for Edinboro, Angela Burrows, confirmed Western Pennsylvania campuses are included in the plan to save the programs. “Yes, we are pursuing a path with the NCAA that would allow us to continue our current complement of sports on each campus — Edinboro, Clarion and Cal U.”
Several thousand student-athletes compete in a range of State System sports, from football, baseball and basketball to swimming, track and field, wrestling, field hockey and gymnastics, among others.
David Pidgeon, a State System spokesman in Harrisburg, provided no additional details Thursday and deferred to local campuses.
State System Chancellor Daniel Greenstein did not immediately return an emailed request seeking comment and additional specifics.
John Gump, coach executive leader with the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, called the development welcome news.
“Obviously, we would love to hear the State System commit to making sure whatever structure emerges from consolidation guarantees all six programs survive,” said Mr. Gump, head women’s volleyball coach at Kutztown University. “These campuses are facing significant challenges and our coaches and athletic programs can play an important role in helping to meet those challenges, particularly in the areas of recruitment and retention.”
The State System’s enrollment across its 14 universities stands at nearly 96,000, down from almost 120,000 in 2010. It, like other regional public university systems, especially those in the Northeast and Midwest, has been battered by population loss, chronic financial worries and now a pandemic.
The State System board of governors is expected to get an update next month on efforts to combine the six universities into two.
Details on how the sports would be preserved and the extent to which the State System’s leadership has committed itself to the idea were not immediately clear. The State System has said it wants to make a decision on integrations in July.
Specific dollar costs attached to scenarios for keeping the sports versus paring them also were not available Thursday. And officials with the National Collegiate Athletic Association in Indianapolis could not be reached for comment.
In a statement, Bloomsburg President Bashar Hanna, heading the northeast integration group, said business, government, community and campus leaders met remotely this month hoping to protect each institution’s legacy.
State Sen. Cris Dush, RJefferson, expressed confidence that the State System “has a plan that seeks to protect the identity of our universities,” and he called it potentially “a game-changer for the sustainability of our universities, our communities, the State System, and our commonwealth.”