Lawmakers: UNM athletics should have asked for our help
State reps urge regents to change their minds on eliminating teams
ALBUQUERQUE — A group of local lawmakers took their turn addressing the University of New Mexico’s decision to eliminate four sports due to financial concerns and potential Title IX compliance.
Democratic state representatives Patricia Lundstrom, Antonio “Moe” Maestas and Sheryl Williams Stapleton said Monday that the Legislature could have saved those programs had officials at UNM just taken the time to get the state’s assistance.
What’s more, the trio called for UNM’s Board of Regents to reverse course on last week’s decision to cut men’s soccer, beach volleyball, men’s and women’s skiing and women’s diving. The regents approved athletic director Eddie Nunez’s recommendation that those sports be dropped effective July 1, 2019.
“Somebody needs to ask for the help,” Lundstrom said. “Somebody from the president’s office, the finance people, the athletic director, somebody needs to step forward and ask for some help.”
UNM will save about $1.15 million by cutting those programs, although the goal was to trim $1.9 million from an annual budget of $33.5 million.
“I want you to know that I am disappointed in the board of regents,” Lundstrom said. “I recognize the board of regents is an independent government structure, but as a public institution are they so independent the people of New Mexico can be ignored?”
Lundstrom said it appeared that the regents already had their minds made up when last Thursday’s meeting was held. The voted unanimously to cut the teams and approve a roster management plan that trims scholarship opportunities for several other sports.
Maestas said the school is not entirely to blame. Despite the fact that UNM’s athletic department has failed to balance its budget in nine of the last 11 years, political officials have to take ownership for their part.
“Education, higher education has been cut 8.2 percent by state government in fiscal years ’16, ’17 and ’18,” Maestas said. “Sixtynine million dollars from higher ed was cut, by us. That includes the athletic department. We are all responsible for this situation.”
“We as legislators are coming forward to say there’s an opportunity to talk, there’s an opportunity to negotiate and at this point in time, let’s make it happen,” Williams Stapleton said.
Monday’s press conference was held at the Home Builders Association in Albuquerque. Sitting in the back of the room was men’s soccer coach Jeremy Fishbein.
Just moments after the regents voted his program into nonexistence, he told the media that he expected his roster of 29 players to start shrinking by the start of the weekend as other schools swooped in to recruit them.
As part of its plan to eliminate each sport, UNM gave each athlete a scholarship release that allows them to immediately transfer to the school of their choosing.
Fishbein declined to answer when asked if any of his players had already left, saying that he was committed to fighting to keep his program alive despite insurmountable odds.
“It can’t become a partisan issue,” he said. “This has to be everybody. It’s not about politics; it’s about New Mexico.”
Lundstrom said she is drawing up legislation to combat the regents’ vote, but isn’t ready to discuss it publicly.
“It appeared to me the decision was already greased when it was made and nothing the public had to say was considered,” Lundstrom said. “It’s counterintuitive to cut winning teams.”
POLICY CHANGE
The Mountain West Conference revised its procedure for determining home field advantage of its annual football championship game. The host will be the team with the highest winning percentage in MWC games, with a headto-head result serving as the tiebreaker.
“We had a very unique set of circumstances last December with the two divisional champions [Boise State and Fresno State] playing on the final weekend of the regular season,” said MWC deputy commissioner Bret Gilliland. “That prompted a review of the formula and a shift to place a priority on head-to-head competition, while maintaining strategic positioning for the Mountain West champion to serve as the Group of Five representative to the College Football Playoff structure.”