4 Men’s Sports Dropped From CSUN Lineup

NORTHRIDGE — In a drastic effort to comply with gender-equity laws and a deficit-ridden sports budget, Cal State Northridge on Wednesday eliminated four men’s athletic teams, including the baseball and volleyball programs that brought national attention to the campus.

Also eliminated were men’s soccer and swimming. Of the five sports considered for elimination, only the men’s golf team--with eight members and 1 1/2 scholarships--was spared.

Ronald Kopita, the Northridge administrator who along with CSUN President Blenda J. Wilson was responsible for the cuts, said he agonized over the decision. “In my years in higher education, and I’ve been in it for 30 years, I would rank this as the most difficult thing I’ve had to deal with,” said Kopita, vice president for student affairs.

Northridge Athletic Director Paul Bubb also expressed remorse:

“I feel terrible,” he said. “The bottom line is there are laws I need to comply with and budget constraints I need to meet.”

Wilson was unavailable for comment.

News of the pending cuts caused an uproar in the Valley following a May 28 Times story that first detailed the extent of the proposed changes. Most comments seemed to question how the university could eliminate sports so popular in the region.

“It’s mind-boggling that you could eliminate baseball, volleyball and soccer in Southern California,” said John Price, the volleyball coach of 12 years.

A prominent proponent of gender equity was also sharply critical.

“This is certainly not what we had in mind,” said Linda Joplin, an official of the National Organization for Women who led a 1993 lawsuit brought by NOW’s California chapter against all schools in the California State University system. “I think that Northridge is not living up to the spirit of the agreement.”

Although other schools have cut sports in an attempt to reach gender equity--UCLA eliminated both men’s swimming and gymnastics in 1994--Northridge this spring found itself in a particularly serious funding situation at the same time that it became legally obligated to meet gender requirements.

On the one hand, the university has an $800,000 athletic department budget deficit. Yet beginning in fall 1998, under terms of the settlement of the 1993 lawsuit, all the California State University system schools must raise their ratio of female athletes to about 50%.

Women account for 39% of varsity athletes at Cal State Northridge.

Prevented by the athletic department deficit from adding women’s programs--water polo, rifle and lacrosse were under consideration--Northridge administrators decided to cut the four men’s sports.

The cuts will save about $520,000. The rest of the deficit will be made up by cutting operating expenses in other sports, many of which are already running on a shoestring.

But the gender-equity issue isn’t the only cause of CSUN’s money woes. Most of the deficit is a result of the university’s move last fall into the Big Sky Conference, which required it to spend more money on its football program and more for travel for all sports.

The golf team was spared Wednesday because of the possibility that golf could become a required sport for membership in the Big Sky. If it is not added in the next year, golf will be eliminated and replaced with tennis.

The scholarships of athletes on the eliminated teams will be honored for one year. Baseball Coach Mike Batesole has a guaranteed contract for two more years. The other coaches will receive severance packages, Bubb said.

On Wednesday, Tim Montez, the baseball team’s recruiting coordinator and pitching coach, had to inform Matador players of the decision.

“The programs many of our guys turned down to come to Northridge were amazing,” Montez said. “They didn’t come here because of the facility, or because the school is on the beach. They came because of our reputation.

“Now, I’m sitting here in the office making these calls and it’s surreal, it’s like a fog. You find yourself at a loss for words and choking up.”

Past and present Northridge coaches, athletes and high school recruits who had committed to attend Northridge were shocked and bitter about the announcement.

“To be erased, it’s like slapping us in the face,” said Jason Gause, a third baseman on this year’s baseball squad that at one point ranked among the the top 20 NCAA Division I teams in the nation. “Our program was so good. All the time and work is for nothing.”

Their anger was fueled by the fact that baseball and volleyball had been two of the school’s most popular and successful sports. The baseball team has made it to postseason play in four of its seven seasons at the NCAA Division I level. The men’s volleyball team finished second in the nation in 1993, losing to UCLA in the championship game on national television.

“I’m 100% disgusted,” said Coley Kyman, who played volleyball and football at Northridge from 1989-93.

Female athletes stand to benefit because the cuts free money for their programs, but some empathize with those whose sports were cut.

“Our athletic program is slipping away,” said Lisa Vaillancourt, a guard on the basketball team. “Those were top men’s sports. I don’t think it’s very fair. Volleyball is one of the top sports at our school.”

Soccer Coach Marwan Ass’ad isn’t giving up. A few days ago he proposed to Kopita a plan to operate his team for one more year at a profit. Now he wants to arrange a meeting with Wilson.

“After she hears what we have to say, if she still wants to condemn us to death, then I will be satisfied,” Ass’ad said. “But I believe she is not informed of the real facts.”

On campus, students--most of whom had cursory knowledge of the situation--universally lamented the cuts. But there was a range of opinion about the fairness of cutting men’s activities as a way to come into compliance, and the potential result the changes might have on the character of the university.

Watching over the campus pool Wednesday, lifeguard and graduate student Arlene Mutter said the loss of men’s sports was sad, but blaming gender equity laws “is the same kind of scapegoating that happens with sexism and racism and ageism, and all those other -isms. Men’s and women’s sports should be equal.”

Like most students, however, the 27-year-old Mutter said officials should search harder for a way to boost women’s sports rather than simply doing away with men’s teams.

The creators of the gender-equity law--commonly known as Title IX--expected that universities would gradually add women’s teams over a number of years. But, in the course of its 25-year history, little about Title IX has gone as expected.

The legislation was written in 1972. It stated that “no person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of sex . . . be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity.” The measure was challenged but after several court battles, Title IX’s jurisdiction was restored in 1988.

Athletic directors began scrambling to comply at a time when tight budgets would not allow them to add women’s teams. As a result, a recent NCAA study found, women’s gains over the last five years have come at the expense of eliminating men’s teams.

In 1992, a Brown University student successfully sued her school for cutting its women’s gymnastic teams. Soon after, NOW filed its suit against the Cal State system.

NOW’s Joplin had discovered that the percentage of female athletes at Cal State schools had declined from 36% to 30%.

Cal State system officials quickly settled the case. While other universities could satisfy gender-equity laws by showing gradual expansion of women’s sports, Cal State agreed to bring all of its campuses within 5% of proportionality by the 1998-99 school year.

San Francisco State was forced to balance its numbers by cutting football. Cal State Long Beach and Cal State Fullerton had already done so.

“If proper planning had taken place, none of this would have happened,” said Betsy Alden, the athletic director at San Francisco State, who also serves as president of the National Assn. of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators.

As the time neared for a decision on the sports programs, various efforts arose to save them. Over the weekend, Steven Soboroff, a senior advisor to Mayor Richard Riordan, approached school president Wilson with a plan to build a multiuse stadium funded by corporate sponsors. Soboroff has since changed the focus of his efforts to expanding the Northridge softball facilities.

Another complaint came from Daniel M. Petrocelli, the attorney who represented Fred Goldman in the civil suit against O.J. Simpson. Petrocelli sent a letter to university administrators on behalf of Hart High School third baseman--and CSUN recruit--Eric Horvat stating that Horvat had been unfairly denied the chance of pursuing an athletic scholarship at another university.

At CSUN, eliminating football would have been the quickest fix. The sport is expected to devour nearly 20% of the 1997-98 athletic budget. More important, it would take several new women’s teams to balance football’s 85-man roster.

But unlike schools such as San Francisco State and Long Beach, CSUN cannot cut football because of a seemingly unrelated decision the school made last year.

In early 1996, when its American West Conference folded, CSUN had the option of remaining independent. But independent schools struggle to find quality opponents because so many teams are busy playing in their own conferences. And, with weaker schedules, independent schools find it harder to qualify for NCAA playoffs.

So CSUN chose to join the Big Sky Conference, the only conference that would accept it. The Big Sky requires that Northridge keep its football team.

Wednesday’s cut does leave CSUN with many sports programs. Among the most prominent: men’s basketball, which last season came within one game of the NCAA tournament; football, which went 7-4 in its first year of participation in the Big Sky Conference; softball, perennially nationally ranked; and women’s volleyball.

Times staff writers Jeff Fletcher and Eric Slater contributed to this story.

More in Sports

* HISTORY: Drastic cuts were result of many factors. Page C1

* REACT: Lifelong Matador Bob Hiegert is bitter. Page C8

* RECRUITS: Newcomers seek alternatives. Page C8

* HOPE: Community stadium idea gains momentum. Page C9