Outdoor Track and Field on Flotrack 2013

Coastal Carolina is Full of Hype, UNC-W Needs Your Help

May 28, 2013 by Mitch Kastoff

The month of May has been a swinging pendulum for Coastal Carolina University. A week after experiencing probably the worst thing that can happen to any NCAA team, Coastal Carolina went on to write a new chapter in the book of “Sometimes When Rational People Listen to Rational Arguments, Good Things Happen.” It’s a working title.

A few weeks ago, the Coastal Carolina men’s running programs joined the ranks of Delaware, Richmond, and other not forgotten mens teams and were discontinued.

Their elimination, according to Ryan Young of Myrtle Beach Online and athletic director Hunter Yurachek, “was budget related with Title IX effects as a secondary big-picture consideration.”

In the tough economic times, budget constraints coupled with the looming issue of long-term compliance make choices like this difficult for smaller schools like Coastal Carolina.

Having personally gone through the swift blade of the sword of life and death that is Title IX, I can say that while its intentions are virtuous, but the specifics of the tiered “prongs” need to be updated. That forty-one years of gender equality summarized in one sentence.

I’d actually like to have an open discussion about Title IX, so if you have any thoughts on the matter, feel free to email me.

The best quote from the May 3rd article is that while “Yuracheck said he expected a strong response to the news - but reiterated that there is nothing that could reverse the decision at this point.”

It does not mean that they would go down without a fight. CCU athlete Jessica Dennison started a fundraising page and there was also the go-to internet petition. You’ll notice that about a week after the petition started, the signatures started to drop off and then people stopped signing it entirely. What gives?

A week later, coach Jeff Jacobs received a phone call from Yuracheck and... the team was reinstated? So, you’re telling me that there was a meeting between Jacobs and the trustees’ athletic committee and they eventually reversed the decision? I thought we lived in the world of "When any administration make a decision, they either cover their ears with their hands or berate the upset student body and staff." Sort of like what happened at the University of Richmond.

The issue of money (the school cited “favorable retention forecasts” for the fall), Title IX (they fulfilled prong two rather than prong one), and enrollment (Jacobs’ said, “So that point I was making is that [the cuts were] eliminating opportunities for underprivileged South Carolina resident to graduate college...” was resolved by a rational administration.

Thumbs up to everyone at Coastal Carolina University.

But that’s not where the story ends. This weekend at the East Regional, the women of CCU made history as their 4x100m and 4x400m relays both broke school records and advanced for the NCAA National Championships.

So, naturally, it’s all about the hype.

That’s the good news. Now for the bad.

Last week, future University of North Carolina at Wilmington athlete Amanda Cromley sent us a message that the school’s Athletic Review Board made recommendations to cut five athletic teams.

If we’ve learned anything from CCU’s experience, it’s to never give up hope. Just when it seems like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel, keep believing because sometimes, there are rational people at the end.

You can sign UNC-W’s petition HERE.