UNM regents reverse on women’s diving
Four other teams will be cut as planned
ALBUQUERQUE — The University of New Mexico Board of Regents came to the rescue of one team on the chopping block but officially terminated the future of four others during a second special meeting to discuss the future of athletics at the state’s flagship institution.
The regents voted unanimously to approve a proposal from UNM athletic director Eddie Nuñez to eliminate men’s soccer, beach volleyball, and men’s and women’s
skiing by the end of the current school year, but they reversed course and spared the diving portion of the women’s swimming team.
The news came as a surprise to some, particularly the members of the swimming team who took up the entire first row of seats at a meeting room in UNM’s Student Union Building. Several student-athletes hugged while others, like sophomore diver Natasha Dark, openly wept when the board voted 6-1 in favor of keeping diving.
“Grateful but bittersweet,” said Lobos diving coach Julie Weddle. “We wanted a chance to state our case and have our voices heard, but the loss of the other programs is something that’s going to hurt. No one wanted this.”
The regents originally voted in favor of cutting all five teams and implementing an aggressive roster management plan on several others during a July 19 special meeting, but they were forced into a second gathering when the state Attorney General’s Office threatened litigation. Attorney General Hector Balderas determined the school violated the state’s Open Meetings Act by not publishing a detailed agenda ahead of time.
Friday’s second go-round drew approximately 750 people, filling 18 rows of chairs and the standing-room-only section in the back.
As people filed in, board President Robert Doughty encouraged them to grab a copy of the expanded agenda from a table near the main entrance.
Nearly three hours of public comment followed a 40-minute presentation by Nuñez, one that outlined his plan to pay down the athletic department’s $4.7 million deficit by chopping sports, shaving costs and getting spending under control.
“The UNM athletic department has had a problem,” Nuñez said. “We don’t have the money to sufficiently fund the sports we currently sponsor.”
His plan was to drop the number of teams to 18 from 22 to get UNM in line with fellow Mountain West Conference schools and closer to the national average for NCAA Division I schools. He said UNM’s annual budget of approximately $33.5 million ranks eighth out of 11 schools in the conference.
Several times during his presentation, Nuñez said UNM’s current economic situation has made it impossible for the athletic department to keep up with regional and national rivals. Cutting 63 scholarships and four team sports would save the department an estimated $1.2 million each year, allowing it to start paying down the $31 million it still owes for renovations to The Pit.
“With all that being said, rising costs are still going up,” Nuñez said. “Travel for our student-athletes, travel for recruiting, equipment, scholarship costs, student-athlete medical expenses, insurances, cost of living — they all continue to go up while our budgets remain stagnant.”
Most people who came to hear the presentation had left by time the regents cut off public discussion and put the matter to a vote. The meeting lasted more than 4½ hours, with the final tally coming in the final two minutes.
Along the way, a total of 53 speakers got up to address the board, including a handful of politicians who voiced a need to table the vote and wait for the Legislature to step in with additional funds. Among them was Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque.
He echoed the sentiments of several politicians when he said the state has the means to help. He went as far as to compare New Mexico’s immediate economic future to that of a country in the Middle East.
“In April, things are going to look a lot different at the state level,” he said. “I mean, does the prince of Kuwait cut sports? We have the largest crude oil reserves in the entire nation. We’re going to have hundreds of millions of dollars extra next year and the next year and the next year as long as crude oil remains at $67 a barrel — and our economy is growing.”