YPSILANTI, MI - A lawsuit filed against Eastern Michigan University and its Board of Regents seeks to nullify the elimination of four sports programs, claiming the move was made in violation of the Open Meetings Act.

The university claims it did not violate the Open Meetings Act because eliminating sports programs did not require Board of Regents approval.

The lawsuit was filed May 10 in Washtenaw County Circuit Court by Douglas and Mary Willer, both EMU alums. Douglas Willer was a two-time All-American wrestler and member of the EMU Athletic Hall of Fame.

The lawsuit claims EMU's Board of Regents was in violation of the state's Open Meetings Act, and that members met in secret to discuss the elimination of the men's wrestling, men's swimming and diving, softball and women's tennis program, which was announced by EMU Athletic Director Scott Wetherbee on March 20 to reduce its budget by $2.4 million.

The cuts were never presented to the board for approval, but the lawsuit claims the regents met in secret prior to the announcement to discuss dropping the programs, citing a press conference in which Wetherbee stated he "went to the board and the president and this is the option we landed on;" that he "notified the board and talked to them last week;" and that "the Board and the President wanted to hold off (the announcement) until graduation."

The lawsuit also claims EMU's Board of Regents were in violation of the Open Meetings Act by limiting the time of public comment to 30 minutes during an April 20 meeting, during which advocates for the sports that had been eliminated intended to address the board. Public commenting slots had been filled prior to the meeting date.

EMU's policy for Regents meetings limits public comment to 10 speakers, who are each permitted to speak for 3 minutes. EMU Spokesman Geoff Larcom explained that the secretary for the Board of Regents received only two requests for public comment advocating for one of the eliminated sports - wrestling, which came from the Willers. Those requests were both submitted on April 18, at which point all the spots had been filled, he said.

Larcom said Tuesday morning the university plans "a vigorous defense."

"The lawsuit is without merit in all regards and we will vigorously defend the interests of the University," he said. "The facts in this situation are clear. No violation of the Open Meetings Act occurred at our Board of Regents meeting because the decision to reduce varsity sports is an administrative decision and does not require approval of the Board of Regents. As such, the decision was not presented to the Regents for their approval.

"The Regents are neither required nor expected to make administrative decisions such as this," he added. "To the contrary, Board policies clearly indicate that such decisions are a University management function. This is not unique to Eastern. Other universities have similar policies."

The lawsuit calls for EMU to "invalidate the action" of eliminating the four sports, permanently enjoin its Board of Regents from enforcing the rule of limiting public comment to 30 minutes and pay damages of $500 and any court costs and attorney fees to the defendants.

Additionally, the Willers submitted a complaint and request for action to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette outlining the same claims of the lawsuit on May 13, claiming they were denied the right to speak during the April 20 meeting.

In the letter, they cited former Attorney General Mike Cox's published opinion that limiting public comment to 30 minutes "may result in certain members of the public being denied the opportunity to address the body," noting that Schuette adopted a similar opinion in his open meetings handbook:

"A rule limiting the period of public comment may not be applied in a manner that denies a person the right to address the public body, such as by limiting all public comment to a half-hour period," the handbook states.

EMU noted it considered many factors when making the decision to eliminate the four sports, including program cost, athletic facilities - current and essential future needs - and a comparison of sports sponsored by Mid-American Conference (MAC) schools.

Eastern Michigan previously offered 21 sports - more than any of its peer institutions in the MAC, each of which offers 16-19 sports.