St. Cloud State University cuts football and golf, adds men's soccer in 2020

Nora G. Hertel | St. Cloud Times

Show Caption Hide Caption Football coach Scott Underwood reacts to football cut St. Cloud State head football coach Scott Underwood responds to the recent news of the football program being cut

ST. CLOUD — St. Cloud State University will end its football and golf programs next year to comply with a Title IX court order and manage budget shortages.

The changes will affect about 115 student athletes, seven coaches and two graduate assistant coaches, according to St. Cloud State President Robbyn Wacker.

"(It's) a hard day," football coach Scott Underwood said, holding back tears. "You don't think of (the end) as how it went down today. It's not how you figure it's the last time you get to see the kids that you coach.

"You always say the hardest day ... is on senior banquet day, but obviously today is ten fold of that."

Men's soccer will be added to the school's athletic program to keep the program in compliance with National Collegiate Athletic Association rules.

St. Cloud State has to comply with the U.S. District Court's August order in a Title IX lawsuit by balancing the opportunities and benefits it offers for female students in the athletic program.

In addition, the university anticipates a $5.1 million budget deficit for the 2020 academic year. Athletic budgets have struggled under declining student athletic fees tied to declining student enrollment and increasing costs, Wacker said.

"All three of these (factors) have converged and brought us to the table," Wacker said Monday. "We know this is going to be tough for folks."

She met with coaches in October to talk about the challenges facing athletics, including the court order, she said.

RELATED: Judge finds SCSU failed to comply with Title IX

St. Cloud State released its plan to eliminate football and golf Tuesday afternoon. The program changes start next fall.

Officials at the University of Minnesota-Crookston also said Tuesday the school is eliminating its football program because of costs.

Chancellor Mary Holz-Clause said the decision to discontinue any program is “extremely difficult." But the school says the football program has faced serious challenges from lack of funding.

What does Title IX have to do with it?

In 2016 the university removed six athletic programs, including men's and women's tennis and Nordic skiing. That led to a lawsuit, with athletes claiming the university violated Title IX, a 1972 U.S. law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs funded with federal dollars.

The judge found St. Cloud State didn't comply with Title IX from at least 2014 and ordered the university to fix the imbalance. In part, the school needs to better align the proportion of female and male athletes with the proportion men and women who are full-time, degree-seeking undergraduate students at the university.

Eliminating football and golf was the only way St. Cloud State found to address its financial challenges while complying with the court's order, Wacker said.

Story continues below.

Wacker played volleyball for Colorado State University before Title IX became law, and her team did not have enough resources for uniforms, she said Monday. "We are grateful for Title IX. We think Title IX provides a quality experience for both men and women."

RELATED: Huskies ready to take care of unfinished business in NCAA volleyball tournament

Right now the university has 19 teams. That will drop to 17, leaving six men's teams and 11 women's teams.

What are the budget issues?

St. Cloud State officials have talked often of budget shortfalls in the last decade.

The school's athletic programs faced budget cuts in 2010, and then-President Earl Potter considered cutting the football team, but it was saved by a campus vote to raise student athletic fees to generate an expected $600,000 for the athletic department. The athletic program budget had a projected 2012 deficit of around $550,000 around that time.

In 2016, football and other sports had roster reductions to cut costs.

Now the university at large and the athletic program are trying to adjust to more recent deficits.

The Huskies Athletics deficit reached more than $1.6 million in the last four years, according to a Tuesday news release from the university.

Ending the football and men's and women's golf programs will save about $1.2 million. Some of that will go to the new soccer team and other sports, said Director of Athletics Heather Weems. Some will go to general university funds.

The university is bracing for a budget deficit next academic year and put out pink slips to eight tenured faculty in September to save about $840,000.

RELATED: SCSU moves to lay off 8 faculty from library, theater and philosophy programs

Across the country, public universities and colleges face similar challenges — declines in student enrollment and decreases in state aid. Enrollment numbers this fall showed St. Cloud State's enrollment fell off more than other universities in the Minnesota State system.

RELATED: Enrollment falloff more at SCSU than other Minnesota State universities

St. Cloud State cuts football, golf programs: 5 things to know St. Cloud State University announced it will eliminate football, men's golf and women's golf, and add men's soccer in fall 2020.

Why football and golf?

St. Cloud State's football program dates back to 1895.

The football team has large roster of male athletes, 98 this year, Weems said. That had to be balanced out with opportunities for female athletes. And the university couldn't afford to add new women's teams.

Plus, support for football has waned, Wacker said. There were 58 football season ticket holders this fall. In the last three years, the average Huskies football game drew between 1,000 and 1,300 spectators, Weems said.

"Folks aren't attending football like they did 10 to 15 years ago," Wacker said. Other schools have dropped their programs, including Jacksonville University in Florida one week ago.

It's not clear what the change means for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The administration's frequently asked questions document called it a critical part of SCSU athletics, "and we are committed to the NSIC's success."

St. Cloud State has to have a men's or mixed gender sport in the fall, winter and spring to comply with NCAA rules. Soccer will fill that autumn niche for SCSU in the future.

Soccer is increasingly popular among junior and high school students, Wacker said. And at $250,000, it will also be less expensive than football.

Twenty scholarships are dedicated to the football and golf programs; some of those scholarships are split or shared among more than one athlete.

The university will help student athletes who wish to transfer and honor scholarships for up to four years, according to the university.

There are eight women and eight men who play golf at St. Cloud State. It's a fall and spring sport.

The school's golf facilities are "very limited," Weems said. And it was tough to get the athletes time on the course during harsh weather.

Those limits compounded with the school's other considerations, and golf didn't make the cut.

What's next for SCSU?

The university has to submit to the court its plan to comply with Title IX by February.

And leaders will start looking for a men's soccer coach right away to start play in the fall. Homecoming 2020 at St. Cloud State will feature hockey and volleyball games.

Weems will also launch a strategic planning session in the spring to set up a three-year plan with a review of facilities, a re-investment strategy and exploration of an eSports club addition to the athletic program, according to the frequently asked questions.

Local Rep. Dan Wolgamott, who serves on the House Higher Education Finance and Policy committee, talked about the decision in the context of funding all of higher education.

“Higher Education is facing a challenging fiscal environment, which leads to tough decisions," Wolgamott said Tuesday. "I feel our community’s disappointment in SCSU ending the football & golf programs, and remain committed to properly funding our colleges & universities.”

RELATED: Faculty push back against St. Cloud State layoffs with grievance, protest

Academic and athletic units in the university will rely more and more on donations, Weems said Monday. "In terms of philanthropy as a whole, I think the university is relatively young in its efforts."

The administration is still working on other savings to manage its budget deficit, Wacker said. "We're thinking about where we need to move to be more competitive."

"You have to adapt to the changing landscape," Wacker said. "This is a wonderful university. We're doing great things. We just have to respond differently."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.