ANALYSIS : CSUN Athletics Loses a Key Backer

The Cal State Northridge athletic program is losing an ally at a time when it can least afford to.

James W. Cleary, the school president who dared take an interest, is stepping down from his post in July.

The recent announcement did not come as a surprise to those who closely follow Northridge athletics. Reports of his pending retirement have been circulating for almost a year.

Still, his departure can be considered a stunning blow to CSUN athletics, especially on the heels of budget cuts that have shaved $145,900 from already skeleton coffers.

Cleary, particularly in the final half of his 23-year tenure as president, has become an influential force on behalf of the school’s sports program. A decade ago, when Division II football was struggling on the West Coast, he was instrumental in the formation of the Western Football Conference.

A few years later, Cleary heard criticism that college presidents were not active enough in NCAA policy-making. Soon, he became Division II chairman of the powerful NCAA President’s Commission.

Cleary’s work with the NCAA provided him with a perspective when, in 1987, Northridge coaches unanimously recommended the school leave Division II and seek Division I status in athletics.

“He was able to make informed decisions because he understood the problems an institution our size and in our area faced in Division II,” said Bob Hiegert, Northridge athletic director. “He knew how this institution fit in on a national scale and how looking long range there was really no other choice for us to go.”

And, perhaps, just as important, Cleary, 64, has made short-term sacrifices to make the divisional change work.

At first, there was strong support for the reclassification, which was sold as a method of improving the school’s public image. But lately some of that support has waned as students and faculty members wondered if some money targeted for athletics wouldn’t be better spent on academic programs.

The athletic program received more than $500,000 this year from the Northridge Foundation, a university auxiliary that draws its funds from sources such as the bookstore and food services.

Cleary is president of the foundation, and although he didn’t take part in a vote in which the organization’s executive board allocated the funds to athletics, he has been the target of criticism. Most of it he ignores.

“Critics are coming forward now because of the budget crunch,” Cleary said. “It’s not just athletics, it’s almost everything. The attitude is, if it doesn’t benefit my program, it’s not right. People tend to get narrow, tunnel vision in that regard. They don’t want to be bothered with the facts sometimes.”

The facts, as Cleary sees them, are these: The school is too big, too diverse and too successful to have anything but a major-college athletic program.

“I have always maintained that any program worth its salt should be given the opportunity to compete with the best,” Cleary said. “In academic departments, we have that competition. Our faculty are playing on the same fields that other scholars are playing on when they go to a convention and read papers or submit articles. I wonder why athletics should be treated any differently.”

Athletic officials can only hope Cleary’s successor will feel the same way.

Northridge made a fairly successful plunge into Division I last season, with several sports achieving national rankings, including top-10 finishes by the men’s volleyball and baseball teams. But the program overall should be considered a clumsy-footed pup, still vulnerable and years from full maturation.

Hiegert considers the prospect of athletics being downgraded a “non-issue” and predicts widespread public outcry, on and off campus, should such a move be attempted. That appears unlikely. The CSUN program probably will remain on a scale similar to what it is now.

“The presidential change is going to be a blip on the scale, either a blip up or a blip down, but whichever it is, it will right itself in a year or two,” Hiegert said. “The San Fernando Valley, the student body and the faculty and staff in general think we’re doing the right thing.”

Truth be told, Northridge has done the right thing, albeit while often in a stumbling and bumbling fashion.

Unfortunately, its timing has been horrible. Money rarely has been tighter within the state system or in the private sector, from which Northridge hoped to attract boosters and investors.

“You can always say the timing could be better, but somewhere along the line, you just have to bite the bullet and say you’re doing it,” Hiegert said. “Athletics is something you either support or you don’t support. There are not too many people lukewarm on the subject.”

Cleary is supportive. And his successor?

“I would hope that the interest or commitment to athletics as a legitimate component of our educational mission finds its way into the job description,” Cleary said.

Some grandiose plans hang in the balance. The university, a developer and a citizen’s group already have agreed to terms on a North Campus project that would provide a revenue flow for construction that would include a proposed 30,000-seat outdoor stadium. It is awaiting final approval from the city of Los Angeles.

At the press conference to announce his retirement, Cleary was asked what key characteristics his successor needed to possess. A commitment to the job, the energy to stay with it and some vision for the future, he replied.

Athletics needs 20-20 foresight.