Decision to cut team sets Lobo Pride aside
On April 13, the University of New Mexico’s vice president for athletics, Paul Krebs, informed the UNM ski team of his decision to cut the ski program at UNM. This was despite the fact the UNM ski program excels athletically and academically. The team’s student-athletes boast the highest cumulative team GPAs at the university, with a cumulative GPA of 3.92 for the women’s team and 3.60 for the men’s team. The ski team is one of only two UNM athletic programs to ever win an NCAA title, as NCAA Division 1 Skiing Team Champions in 2004. This has left the UNM athletes with the unwelcome choice of either quitting their ski careers to continue their education or quitting their education in order to continue skiing in a nonacademic setting.
Decision to cut the team
UNM’s ski team coaches were repeatedly and specifically told throughout the 2016-17 season that there were no plans to cut the ski team. On April 4, Krebs stated to the Albuquerque Journal “money will not be an issue” for the athletic department when hiring the new basketball coach Paul Weir, yet less than two weeks later he announced he’d be cutting the ski program.
It was therefore with shock that the ski team coaches and athletes learned of the decision to cut the team. Given the late date in the year, student-athletes and coaches will most likely be unable to make alternative arrangements, as university academic transfer deadlines have passed and most collegiate-level teams around the country have already made athlete and staffing selections. The “right to play” of these athletes has been violated. The team’s supporters were equally shocked and angered as their 47 years of investment in the program has been ignored and they were given no voice in the matter.
Athletic budget
UNM’s Athletic Department is facing well-publicized budget issues, which stem from decisions and budget mismanagement entirely unrelated to the ski team. In contrast, the ski team has consistently been managed within its budget. Claims by the UNM athletic department of potential savings from cutting the ski team are exaggerated, as the largest line item in the ski team budget is scholarships paid out of the athletic department budget but paid to the university’s main campus. The ski team incurs no facilities or maintenance costs for the athletic department, and many of the ski team athletes are nonscholarship athletes who pay their own way through college and graduate school — revenue that will be lost to the university if those athletes are forced to go elsewhere to continue their athletic or academic careers.
Positive way forward
Numerous public and private pledges of financial support for the ski team have been made if the team gets reinstated, and the local New Mexico ski and tourism industry has rallied behind the effort to save the team, which is widely seen as an example of the best of New Mexico — a real-life example of “New Mexico True.” What more can we ask of our kids than to deliver us a national title and consistently perform academically above all other athletic programs? (And then they are) rewarded with this fate. This decision goes against the basic values we uphold as citizens of New Mexico and alumni of the University of New Mexico.