By Courtney Klaus, Editor-In-Chief
Newman’s Town Hall meetings, which give the university’s president and her cabinet a chance to answer student questions, usually draw a modest crowd.
But, Tuesday’s meeting was flooded with student athletes who said they were concerned about rumored cuts to their athletic scholarships.
At some points, the meeting became contentious.
More than 90 students crowded into the Dugan Conference Center for the meeting, filling all the chairs, forming a line along the back wall and spilling out of the entrance. Almost all of them were student athletes, and many said later that their coaches told them to attend the meeting.
The town hall meeting started with a question from senior soccer player Vincent Couto, who expressed concern about what he’d heard about athletic scholarship amounts being reduced over the next two years.
“I’d invite you to take a look. I’d say the majority of people here are all athletes,” he said. “We’ve heard something about athletic scholarships being cut over the next two years. Could you elaborate or just explain before we dive into the matter?”
President Noreen Carrocci took the question and said Newman was planning a 4 percent overall reduction in athletic scholarship amounts for next year and a 2 percent reduction for the year after. She said the changes would affect scholarship amounts only for incoming students, not students already attending Newman.
Carrocci said the overall athletic scholarship discount rate had “gotten out of control” and that the board had decided to scale it back.
“The scholarships are still going to be very generous compared to non-athlete students. They are very generous. It’s still a scaling back by a marginal percentage,” she said.
Athletic Director Vic Trilli said that 30 full-ride scholarships, including tuition, room, board and books, were currently provided to student athletes. The Cardinal Newman Scholarship, which covers tuition by itself and is the highest academic-based scholarship reward, is received by five students each year.
The response triggered four follow up questions, and someone in the audience asked how the university would use the money it saved from the cuts to athletics.
Carrocci responded, saying the cuts were aimed at “reducing expense” and that other parts of the university received cuts as well “across the board.”
Although SGA executives broke the exchange on athletic scholarships by asking a few questions that explored the topics of diversity, tuition, the campus meal-plan and the possibility of a free noon hour with no classes, they were each followed by questions that turned the conversation back to athletics.
One of the students asked how the university would prepare for the move to the new Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association conference.
Trilli and Carrocci both said Newman is looking into raising money for new athletic facilities in the future, particularly the outdoor facilities.
Couto responded by asking if the university, rather than making cuts, should be investing more in athletics in order to succeed as a business that could attract future student athletes.
Carrocci said the university can still invest in athletics, even if small cuts are made. She reiterated that every department of the university has had expenses reduced, not just the athletic department.
“Everything is costly. The academic program is costly. Athletics are costly. Student Life is costly. We have to pay bills. We are still investing in all of it,” Carrocci said.
SGA Treasurer Kyle Mazza then stood up to address the crowd and suggested the large group of student athletes concerned about athletic scholarships convene later through the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to formulate formal questions to send to the board later on.
PHOTO: OVER 90 PEOPLE attended the Town Hall meeting with the president’s cabinet sponsored by the Student Government Association. Courtney Klaus, Editor-In-Chief
