In November Spelman College, an historically black college for women in Atlanta, announced it was eliminating its NCAA Division III intercollegiate athletics program. Citing a desire to serve more students with the resources now dedicated to athletics (roughly $900,000), Spelman’s president announced a plan to focus on beefing up fitness, wellness, recreation and intramural programs for the 2,100 students on campus.
The decision leaves Spelman’s seven teams and 80 student-athletes without opportunities to compete and represent the College. However, more critically, does Spelman’s decision open the door for more small colleges to follow suit and drop their intercollegiate athletics programs? Two New York Times articles (Nov. 2, 2012 and April 13, 2013) address Spelman’s decision.
While the Spelman decision is tragic, it should offer food for thought for most small college athletics programs.
A Failure to Articulate Value and Connect Athletics to the Institutional Mission and Priorities
Decisions like Spelman’s are not taken lightly and few people will know the details of how the debate transpired. However, the impact of its decision reaches much farther than the $900,000 that was being spent on athletics. Small colleges must establish clarity on the role of athletics and its value to the institution. Small colleges do not generate revenue in the commonly talked about ways like gate receipts, television or significant donations. They do however have hundreds of student-athletes that bring net tuition revenue to the institution.
There are several ways in which small college athletics directors need to articulate value and justify athletics:
- Financial- net tuition revenue
- Enrollment Management- recruiting, retention and institutional outreach
- Visibility and Marketing- quantifying the media coverage athletics generates
- Student/Campus Life- social activity, institutional pride and esprit de corp
- Brand Equity- athletics allows associations with peer and aspirant institutions
There are many more ways that athletics can connect to an institution’s mission and priorities. It is critical that athletics directors and other senior administrators address the question of clarity about the role of athletics to prevent another Spelman College tragedy.
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