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At 1:55 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27, the day before spring break, freshman swimmer Joanne Perry and her teammates received unsettling e-mails out of the blue from the Department of Athletics. The athletes were informed that Pepperdine had terminated the women's swimming and diving program.
"I really didn't know what to think," Perry said. "All of us have been swimming since we were little kids … This is a huge reason that most of us came to this school, just for the swim team. The fact that they told us it's over, you're finished - it was a complete shock."
That same afternoon, men's track Head Coach Robert Radnoti informed his runners that their program had also been cut.
"We had practice at 2:15 like every other day, but this day [Radnoti] called a team meeting," said sophomore Conrad Wozniak. "He read us the e-mail that the athletic department had sent to the swim coach and him. And he explained that we were going to be no more next season."
The elimination of two NCAA Division 1 sports programs was part of a university-wide initiative to reduce expenses and increase financial efficiency. According to Athletics Director John Watson, men's track was discontinued to accommodate the regulations of Title IX.
Men's track will be terminated as a university-sponsored sport following the 2008-2009 academic year. However, for women's swimming and diving, the Feb. 27 announcement sparked a movement by friends and family of the team to provide the funding necessary to complete an additional season. President Andrew K. Benton also provided the program with some financial assistance on a one-time basis, Watson said.
This extension will allow more time for recruits and current team members to decide whether or not they will remain at Pepperdine. It will also give next year's seniors the opportunity to finish out their collegiate careers at Pepperdine as athletes.
However, for the swimming and diving team to compete beyond the 2009-2010 academic year would require a $10 million endowment, which Watson said is unlikely to be accomplished.
According to the e-mail sent to the swimming and diving team on Feb. 27, the administration had asked each department to reallocate 10 percent of its budget. Watson said he could either cut entire teams or take money away from each program, a decision he thought would "weaken the tradition that we have from all the other sports."
But Perry said the reasoning, no matter how airtight, did not justify the manner in which the university delivered the news to her and her teammates, affirming they deserved a more personal and thorough explanation for the cut. The e-mail expressed the athletic department's remorse and provided a summary of the financial pressures that forced the school to discontinue the programs.
"We as athletes sacrifice a lot of time for this sport and we represent the school in a really good way," Perry said. "I feel they at least owe us to tell us in a better way than through an e-mail. They could have sat us down and explained to us the reasons why, and not just told us [the program] is canceled."
Perry said the e-mail caught her completely off-guard and that even her head coach, Nick Rodionoff, had no idea that the termination of the team was a remote possibility.
The team wrapped up its 2008-2009 season with a third place finish at the Pacific Coast Swimming and Diving Championships in Long Beach, Calif., six days before the Feb. 27 announcement. Following the tournament, Rodionoff was named PCSC Coach of the Year for the second time in his nine years as the team's coach.
"It was crazy to go from such a high in conference and get this news and our world flipped upside down," Perry said.
According to Watson, the NCAA regulates that all Division 1 schools have a minimum of 14 sports programs, and Pepperdine currently has 16. Watson said the department could only eliminate teams existing outside the school's primary conference affiliation, the West Coast Conference, leaving men's and women's track, women's swimming and diving, men's water polo and men's volleyball as the only options.
"We have national championships in two of those sports (men's water polo and men's volleyball)," Watson said. "Men's and women's track is an extension of our cross country program. The track portion of that does not realize significant financial savings. That's what drew us to swimming and diving."
Although he did not specifically mention Title IX, Watson said men's track was cut to "keep a balance for men's and women's participation" in athletics. The elimination of these two programs will leave the school with seven men's and seven women's sports teams following the 2009-2010 academic year.
Because track is primarily an extension of cross country, Watson said the school may allow Pepperdine's male runners to participate in track events beyond this season, although they would not officially be sponsored by the university.
"We might be able to allow them to run," Watson said. "And should they qualify for NCAA championship times, … they could in fact go forward and compete at the national level."
Members of the cut programs will continue to receive their athletic scholarships until the end of their eligibility, but the school will also assist those who opt to transfer, Watson said.
"We told them if they choose to seek to transfer somewhere else, we will expedite that process," Watson said. "If they choose to stay at Pepperdine, we will honor their scholarship as long as they were going to stay with us."
But Perry said she does not see herself remaining at Pepperdine if there is no swimming and diving team.
"Swimming is my life, and I can't imagine not doing that at school," Perry said. "I've always been an athlete; I think it would be weird not to be one."
Wonziak said that several of his teammates are transferring, even though he plans to stay at Pepperdine for the cross country program.
According to Watson, while the cuts were disappointing and challenging to him and his entire department, they were simply an inevitable reality of an ailing economy that has affected all areas of the university.
But Perry maintains the situation called for a more thoughtful and personal response from the Department of Athletics. The e-mail did not meet the expectations she had for the administration during those circumstances.
"It would be great if the students can give us support and spread it around," Perry said. "It is important for the community to be aware of what happened and how unfair and disrespectful we feel the school has been to us."
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