In January, Sonoma State shocked the nation by announcing it was dropping all its athletic programs in response to a growing budget deficit. In the next few months, schools such as San Francisco State and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo announced they were making significant cuts to their athletic departments, including dropping some sports, because of budgetary concerns.
Meanwhile, at Cal State Monterey Bay (CSUMB), the school has not lost any of its sports teams or made financial cuts to the program. As a Division II sports program, CSUMB has allocated more funding toward equipment and recruitment.
During his 12 years as athletic director, Kirby Garry has seen the consistent growth of the entire campus. Even with budget cuts happening with other aspects of campus, Garry feels the athletics department has been strongly supported.
“The university has made over the last couple of years some really significant budget considerations and decisions,” Garry said. “We’ve felt some of those, but we’ve also been funded in a way that we have a balanced budget, we have a sustainable approach to operating intercollegiate athletics at the Division II level, and we feel really good about it.”
“[Athletics] fit really nicely into the vision for this campus,” he said. “We feel really good.”
Garry notes how University President Vanya Quinones’ leadership and commitment to the Otter Athletics program have furthered CSUMB’s sense of community. “We’ve been supported 100% by her since she got here. Previous administration as well, but a renewed sense of support since Vanya arrived,” Garry said. “[Athletics] fit really nicely into the vision for this campus. We feel really good.”
Otter Athletics recently received a logo rebrand, with new designs for athletics merchandise. This rebrand was completed to align with the university’s recent rebrand to showcase the campus connection between the university and its sports teams. “We want the rebrand as an example of the kind of upward momentum and trajectory that we want to continue,” Garry said. “This was really just a next step so that our branding aligned with the university’s brand, because everything that we do is really a part of the university. We’re not separate. That allows us to have such a great working relationship with those that I report to and senior leadership.”
Along with the continued momentum for the athletics program comes the fear of the future from coaches and players. CSUMB Assistant Baseball Coach Dennis Peters is an alum of one of the affected schools, Sonoma State. As a former collegiate baseball player, Peters understands the impact sports has on a campus community.
“I think it’s sad,” Peters said. “I’m an alumni. I played there, won championships in my sport there. It’s just extremely unfortunate.”
Peters suspects that other CSUs will follow suit by cutting their sports programs. “It’s probably going to continue and that there might be some other state schools in the system that are going to have to deal with similar decisions and it does make me sad,” he said. “When you see that something like that can happen at our level, it doesn’t make you feel good.”
Student athletes are feeling this concern as well. Jimmy Garcia, an accounting major and a senior on the CSUMB baseball team, believes losing sports teams in their conference adds unease for the rest of the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
“We have to add more teams as a result, or we have to lower some teams in some sports in order to create that competitive balance that we once had before,” Garcia said.
CSUMB President Quiñones believes campus advocacy against a proposed 8% budget cut by the state will help ensure students have continued access to funding and resources, specifically for the school’s athletic programs. She has encouraged students to reach out to elected state officials to share their stories about why this cut would be harmful to students and their campus.
“We are incredibly proud of our athletics program,” Quiñones said in an email to The Lutrinae. “Kirby Garry and his coaching team have built a strong program for our student-athletes who have proven to be high achievers both in their sports and in their academics.”