Ivy League 2021

[harflax]

https://www.globalgolfpost.com/more/dar ... story-2-2/

What is going on in the Ivy League and their athletic programs? This article is really disturbing.

Totally agree. Very, very disturbing. A really shortsighted decision.

[MDlaxfan76]

https://www.globalgolfpost.com/more/dar ... story-2-2/

What is going on in the Ivy League and their athletic programs? This article is really disturbing.

https://news.stanford.edu/2020/07/08/athletics-faq/

https://www.thedp.com/article/2020/06/b ... field-penn

Lots of places.

https://www.si.com/college/2020/06/11/c ... a-olympics

Yup, though I'm disappointed as a Dartmouth alum in these decisions, the article did mention the interesting fact that Dartmouth has had the highest percentage of student athletes in the Ivies, a league which has much higher athletic participation than any other D1 league.

That remains true.

[RumorMill]

Just received an update that Dartmouth is "reinstating" all five teams due to Title IX violations!

Wow.

[sguy9]

Confirmed.

https://news.dartmouth.edu/news/2021/01 ... ws-planned

[wgdsr]

https://www.globalgolfpost.com/more/dar ... story-2-2/

What is going on in the Ivy League and their athletic programs? This article is really disturbing.

https://news.stanford.edu/2020/07/08/athletics-faq/

https://www.thedp.com/article/2020/06/b ... field-penn

Lots of places.

https://www.si.com/college/2020/06/11/c ... a-olympics

Yup, though I'm disappointed as a Dartmouth alum in these decisions, the article did mention the interesting fact that Dartmouth has had the highest percentage of student athletes in the Ivies, a league which has much higher athletic participation than any other D1 league.

That remains true.

maybe they should think about expanding enrollment. i hear there's a lot of room up there.

[jhu06]

https://www.globalgolfpost.com/more/dar ... story-2-2/

What is going on in the Ivy League and their athletic programs? This article is really disturbing.

Totally agree. Very, very disturbing. A really shortsighted decision.

you don't need 128 football players at an ivy league school. Not even 75. I'm not a social justice warrior at all but the article in the atlantic was pretty clear about how athletics programs at elite schools are a waste of spots, heavily manipulated, donor/alumni maintenance programs and completely at odds w/the schools missions and yes my family went to dartmouth.

[pcowlax]

Confirmed.

https://news.dartmouth.edu/news/2021/01 ... ws-planned

More madness. Either these sports are too much of a financial drain on the school or they aren't. Either having so many athletes is compromising the school's academic standards or limiting the number of students with gifts in other areas or is isn't. The idea that the sports either should or should not be continued because of a national law regarding sexual discrimination is nuts.

[wgdsr]

https://www.globalgolfpost.com/more/dar ... story-2-2/

What is going on in the Ivy League and their athletic programs? This article is really disturbing.

Totally agree. Very, very disturbing. A really shortsighted decision.

you don't need 128 football players at an ivy league school. Not even 75. I'm not a social justice warrior at all but the article in the atlantic was pretty clear about how athletics programs at elite schools are a waste of spots, heavily manipulated, donor/alumni maintenance programs and completely at odds w/the schools missions and yes my family went to dartmouth.

or 50 lax guys?

[jhu06]

nope. they could also expand enrollment.

[MDlaxfan76]

Confirmed.

https://news.dartmouth.edu/news/2021/01 ... ws-planned

Hanlon's letter to alumni, just received:

Dartmouth
Dear Dartmouth alumni,

Last July, we announced the elimination of five varsity athletic teams: women's and men's swimming and diving; women's and men's golf; and men's lightweight rowing. We made this difficult decision as one component of a broad institutional response to increasing financial pressure resulting from our looming structural deficit, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the desire for more flexibility in undergraduate admissions.

To determine which teams would be eliminated, Director of Athletics Harry Sheehy and his team established a series of factors and considerations to be used in their assessment. We have recently learned that elements of the data that Athletics used to confirm continued Title IX compliance may not have been complete.

In light of this discovery, Dartmouth will immediately reinstate all five teams. Furthermore, in order to ensure that we are complying with the law and living up to our institutional values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, we have commissioned the following reviews:
• Holland & Knight, a national law firm with expertise in Title IX compliance, will conduct a gender-equity review of varsity athletics. It will request and consider input from student-athletes and alumni, including those from the reinstated teams, as part of the review.
• The Ivy League will conduct an NCAA compliance review of varsity athletics.
• PricewaterhouseCoopers, Dartmouth’s auditors, will conduct a process-and-control review of Dartmouth Athletics.
This comprehensive set of reviews will strengthen our practices and governance structures and ensure that Dartmouth Athletics is fully compliant with all Title IX, NCAA, and Ivy League policies. The findings and recommendations will be delivered to the Board of Trustees Committee on Audit and Oversight and me. At the conclusion of the reviews, we will publish an action plan and take any steps necessary to ensure compliance with Title IX and to address institutional goals, priorities, and challenges.

This has been a difficult year on numerous fronts. We know that many in our community have been disappointed by the decisions we have made within Athletics and across the institution. The news that the data used to confirm Title IX compliance in connection with the team eliminations may not have been complete only adds to that disappointment.

We sincerely apologize that this process has been, and continues to be, so painful to our current and former student-athletes and all who support them. Through the actions above, we will make sure that any future decisions will be based on accurate data. Our sincere hope is that these reviews and team reinstatements will create an opportunity for us to come together as a community as we navigate the challenging times ahead.

Sincerely,
Philip J. Hanlon ’77
President

I'm not sure if this means that the AD is on the hot seat, but it's a heck of a snafu. As a Dartmouth sports alum, I'm pleased by the reversal.

BTW, the 50 lax players is nonsense. The 46 on the roster in 2020 was the peak this decade, 39 in 2019. Apparently the writer thought if the jersey #'s go up to 50...

In other news, we did not get much more clarity yet on our Friends call last evening...except that it's gonna be a mess with no freshmen in the first part of the season (they were there in the fall, but not winter) and then they come for spring trimester mid season and juniors rotate out. The team expects to practice, they've done well in progressing through various stages required (15 freshmen had a particularly great experience in the fall...last meeting, 4 of them attended and spoke), but outside competition is entirely subject to the Ivy Presidents...

[jhu06]

cut 100 slots from mens teams that exist-50 from football alone, convert a few teams to club where the kids pay for their uniforms, travel, etc and get a part time salaried coach and raise the rest and you're good. Hiring 2 big name firms and using an ncaa clearinghouse to figure out how many sports teams to have is typical of a modern higher ed approach which is to throw a well paid army at something that requires some common sense.

[MDlaxfan76]

cut 100 slots from mens teams that exist-50 from football alone, convert a few teams to club where the kids pay for their uniforms, travel, etc and get a part time salaried coach and raise the rest and you're good. Hiring 2 big name firms and using an ncaa clearinghouse to figure out how many sports teams to have is typical of a modern higher ed approach which is to throw a well paid army at something that requires some common sense.

There's less than 110 typically on the Dartmouth football roster, which includes what used to be the freshmen/JV squad. Football is obviously the sport which throws everything out of whack with parity men/women, as women's field hockey does not make a big dent. But I don't see a big reduction in football in the offing, though maybe 10-20 roster positions. It might have been inevitable for the Ivies, as there's no money made (though it does have a donor effect), and with head injuries...but with what Teevens has pioneered at Dartmouth with no hitting practices, robot tacking/blocking dummies, etc, the sport looks to have a longer track than I thought...which I'm glad to see.

I'd like there to be a rethink in Title IX to somehow recognize that this one sport simply has a structure that has many, many more players needed for participation, and that one of the significant benefits of it in particular is that large scale team and the dynamics of such...maybe a pipe dream, but it shouldn't require dropping other men's sports...and I'm a hugely in favor of advancing women's sports!

[jhu06]

a university shouldn't need a law firm, a consulting firm and conference folks to figure out how many student athletes it needs.

[FannOLax]

Universities and all sorts of businesses use consulting firms to confer legitimacy on, and deflect criticism of, decisions taken. As for Title IX, well, I'm pretty sure that Columbia U has invoked it as a reason for not adding men's lacrosse.

[MDlaxfan76]

a university shouldn't need a law firm, a consulting firm and conference folks to figure out how many student athletes it needs.

Go back to critiquing your alma mater 06...

For my part, I'm glad they're going to get some outside perspective to help them out of the ditch they drove into. I hope it includes some reflection on how better to promote the values of the school and what makes it unique among its peers.

Reducing the % of athletes doesn't seem to me to be optimal, even if we are remarkably high...as we've always been...

[smoova]

So, when this "comprehensive set of reviews" reveals that Dartmouth needs to either add a women's team or reduce men's slots in order to comply with Title IX, what will the administration do? Seems like Hanlon just gave himself cover to make a deep cut in male athlete slots.

[jhu06]

a university shouldn't need a law firm, a consulting firm and conference folks to figure out how many student athletes it needs.

Go back to critiquing your alma mater 06...

For my part, I'm glad they're going to get some outside perspective to help them out of the ditch they drove into. I hope it includes some reflection on how better to promote the values of the school and what makes it unique among its peers.

Reducing the % of athletes doesn't seem to me to be optimal, even if we are remarkably high...as we've always been...

my parent earned a graduate degree there, and spent 50+ years chairing alumni clubs, interviewing students and every year is invited back to speak to students, but I appreciate your interest. the values of the school seem clear by the fact that 1/5 of the students are athletes w/allotted slots.

[TotoketLax]

Is this really happening or a simulation? It reads more like Christopher Guest movie. Anybody every watch “Waiting for Guffman”?

If both Hanlon and Sheehy don’t resign or aren’t fired within ~3 months, the place is rotten to the core. Come on ... they trashed people’s lives. LEAVE NOW YOU SELF ABSORBED LOSERS!!

[The Orfling]

As a former litigator, I will give Dartmouth credit for taking the short-term embarrassing step of reversing themselves before incurring millions in legal fees and still taking the "L" in the end just so they don't have to publicly back down. This way, instead of a frantic effort to cut admissions slots 10% in reaction to the Varsity Blues scandal and to use COVID-19-related financial costs (real) to pare back athletic costs, they can slow down, be deliberate, and come up with a plan (maybe through expansion of enrollment and a bit of paring back slots) to get their percentage of athletes more in line with where they want to be.

That might also mean saying to faculty: "Dartmouth sports is part of who we are -- it matters to our alums and to students who may be drawn here by hockey or lacrosse or football or field hockey, but have their worlds enlarged by what YOU teach them. We'll work to cut the percentage of recruited athletes down somewhat, and we'll always encourage our coaches to emphasize the 'student' in 'student-athlete' but we don't and won't apologize for holding on to the ideal that Division I athletic competition is consistent with the culture of excellence we embrace in every facet of campus life.'"

[MDlaxfan76]

a university shouldn't need a law firm, a consulting firm and conference folks to figure out how many student athletes it needs.

Go back to critiquing your alma mater 06...

For my part, I'm glad they're going to get some outside perspective to help them out of the ditch they drove into. I hope it includes some reflection on how better to promote the values of the school and what makes it unique among its peers.

Reducing the % of athletes doesn't seem to me to be optimal, even if we are remarkably high...as we've always been...

my parent earned a graduate degree there, and spent 50+ years chairing alumni clubs, interviewing students and every year is invited back to speak to students, but I appreciate your interest. the values of the school seem clear by the fact that 1/5 of the students are athletes w/allotted slots.

That's why the wink.