CSUN Needs Funds From Fans

Sports fans at Cal State Northridge got a flash of good news late last month when university President Blenda Wilson reinstated four popular and successful men’s sports that fell victim to budget cuts last spring. Wilson’s reversal came after months of hard work by boosters, athletes and students who fought to keep volleyball, baseball, soccer and swimming alive. Now, supporters must keep that effort going if the sports are to survive over the long haul.

CSUN administrators axed the sports last spring in an effort to balance the athletic department’s budget and to comply with federal gender-equity laws, sparking protests from all corners of the San Fernando Valley. Over time, the sports were reinstated for the current school year as teams raised money on their own and the Legislature provided a $586,000 bailout sponsored by state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley). The unanswered question, though, remained how the sports would support themselves in the years to come.

Despite Wilson’s commitment to keep the sports alive through the 1998-99 school year, money remains the big question. In addition to paying for the reinstated sports, CSUN will probably have to add another women’s sport to comply with a legal settlement that demands roughly equal numbers of men and women in Cal State athletic programs. CSUN Athletic Director Paul Bubb was correct when he noted that “It’s not over yet. We have a challenge. Yes, we want a broad-based athletic program. I don’t think there was any question about that. It’s a question how it will be funded.” And that’s where the fans who flooded CSUN with e-mail, faxes, letters and phone calls of protest last spring come in.

If a variety of sports at CSUN are to survive, they need the financial help of those who claim to love them. No other programs at the university should suffer to provide for sports that cater only to a few. Wilson and her administrators recognize this. Last month, the school hired a fund-raising coordinator--just two months after the athletic department made a similar move. Both hires were smart. At a time when taxpayer money cannot come close to supporting the myriad programs demanded by students at public universities, schools like CSUN must either adopt some of the fund-raising tactics of private colleges or start wielding the ax.

Judging by the response of sports fans last year, the ax is a pretty unpopular tool. It’s time to see whether the pen is any more popular and whether the thousands of Valley residents who benefit from CSUN’s diverse offerings are willing to pick one up and cut a check instead.