Upon assuming the role of Interim Director of Athletics on October 6, I was asked by President Rowe to review the September 3 plan to discontinue seven of William & Mary's 23 Division I varsity sports – Men's and Women's Gymnastics, Men's and Women's Swimming, Men's Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field, and Women's Volleyball – at the conclusion of the 2020-21 academic year. I agreed to complete that review by early November in order to minimize the uncertainty for those most directly affected.
During my review, I reached out to coaches and student-athletes, met with representatives of the affected teams, coordinated with the Tribe Club Board and the W&M Foundation Athletics Committee, met with the Faculty Assembly, and led a series of moderated community sessions. While that process was underway, the university received notice of intent to sue on the grounds that the announced plan, including the cuts and the associated roster adjustments in other sports, did not in fact meet Title IX's equitable participation standards.
After a detailed review, and conferring with counsel, we reinstated the three women's sport teams in order to provide gender equitable participation opportunities for our female student-athletes. Accordingly, on October 19, the university announced that Women's Gymnastics, Women's Swimming and Women's Volleyball will continue as Division I sports. In addition, as part of an agreement reached with an attorney representing the women's programs, the university committed to bringing its athletics program into full Title IX compliance by 2022-23 and to completing a thorough gender equity review by the summer of 2021.
My review then focused on the status of the four men's teams slated for suspension at the conclusion of the 2020-21 competitive season. For the reasons outlined below, I now recommend that William & Mary complete the gender equity review this spring before making any decisions on sport sponsorship as we continue to aggressively explore financial alternatives to program eliminations. I make this recommendation with the understanding that the university remains committed to achieving gender equity by 2022-23 and that W&M Athletics continues to face real and immediate financial challenges. Depending on the outcome of our equity review and our ability to identify a new, sustainable financial path, I do not believe the university can rule out future reclassifications at this time.
Adopting the recommendations below in no way diminishes the magnitude or urgency of our gender equity and financial challenges. Rather, I believe these recommendations will provide our community with an informed awareness of the issues associated with continuing to meet our legal and financial responsibilities while providing competitive participation opportunities to all of our student-athletes.
My view remains that W&M Athletics must be defined within three frames – all interconnected, each influencing the others.
- Equity. W&M Athletics must establish a foundation of gender equity for the department and achieve Title IX compliance during the 2022- 23 academic year.
- Financial Stability. Immediate decisions are required to balance the FY21 budget, recognizing that W&M Athletics currently faces a substantial financial deficit with one-third of the year already behind us. We will need to make some short-term decisions while we seek longer-term solutions. Donor support has always been a major part of our ability to support the experience of our student-athletes; it's even more vital in present circumstances.
- Excellence. Notwithstanding the above requirements, the student-athlete experience is paramount. In many ways, the decisions made within the first two frames will determine the level of excellence W&M Athletics can achieve. Still, we do expect to deliver an athletics experience befitting the university's renown while cultivating our athletes' and department's fullest potential.
Recommendations:
- William & Mary Athletics should complete the gender equity review before making any decisions on sport sponsorship. The recent legal settlement provides that the university will conduct a gender equity review and develop a plan to achieve compliance with Title IX during the 2022-23 academic year. The results of this review will inform the department of its current compliance status and identify areas that it must address in order to provide a gender equitable athletics experience for our student-athletes overall.
- The gender equity review will allow for a more thorough consideration of each of Title IX's three participation tests, as well as William & Mary's equitable allocation of athletics-based financial aid.
- The gender equity review may reveal that additional permanent investments in support for men's and/or women's sports are required. To the extent that any identified investments are not currently budgeted, the need to address them may change the financial picture significantly.
- Every team should have definitive fundraising goals for the current (FY21) and future fiscal years. The financial demands of supporting 23 sports and more than 600 participants have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Every sport must play a role in filling the gap with respect to operating budgets and scholarships in the near term and beyond. Moreover, every sport must play a role in contributing to capital investment for the future. Recent weeks have seen public commitments to that effort, and more are needed.
- W&M Athletics needs to raise $4 million in current use funds during FY21, with $2.8 million secured no later than March 1. Without this confirmed support, further painful decisions – in addition to actions already taken – will be required to balance the budget in the current fiscal year. Our preliminary goal for FY22 is $4.2 million, a trajectory that will be continued in subsequent annual goals.
- In addition, forthcoming endowment goals with targets by FY26 will enable more permanent ongoing support for each sport, recognizing the necessary immediate timeframe for providing sustained funding for our programs.
- Fulfillment of fundraising commitments should be expected within the current fiscal year with emphasis on expendable funds for individual programs (e.g., the public commitments made for gymnastics, swimming and track). Conversations with alumni groups representing specific sports have progressed in good faith, particularly with regard to fundraising to support program operations, scholarships, and capital expenditures in this and future years. Prompt fulfillment of financial pledges will demonstrate viability of ongoing program support or lack thereof.
- The William & Mary community should have the opportunity to engage in the conversation on excellence. This broader discussion of the future of athletics at William & Mary will inform the university's strategic planning process in order to allow for a more unified path forward.
- By the fall of 2021 we should complete those reviews of equity, finance and excellence and decide how we will establish a sustainable program and achieve gender equity in 2022-23. If it is determined that William & Mary does not currently provide equitable participation opportunities, the school will be required to add new opportunities, reduce existing opportunities, or some combination of expansion and reduction. Issues raised during the review will be addressed in a comprehensive manner in order to ensure that the program provides equitable participation opportunities consistent with its financial resources. Unless there is a dramatic change in our financial situation permitting the addition of opportunities, William & Mary will have to consider program reductions. All options will be considered with the active engagement of the community.
Equity
In its recent legal settlement, William & Mary committed to achieving gender equity during the 2022-23 academic year. There are three separate areas of athletics equity compliance: participation, athletics-based financial aid (scholarships), and treatment (also known as the "laundry list").
What is at stake in gender equity are core mission principles of belonging and excellence. Also at stake is compliance with federal law. Non-compliance risks all federal funding to the institution, including federal loan aid to students.
Participation Equity
Title IX provides institutions with three separate and equally viable participation compliance tests, all of which will be evaluated during the gender equity review.
- Prong One – Substantial Proportionality
- Prong Two – A History of and Continued Program Expansion for the Underrepresented Sex
- Prong Three – Full and Effective Accommodation of the Interests and Abilities of the Underrepresented Sex
Scholarship Aid
Another aspect of Title IX compliance relates to scholarship equity. If the equity review shows that William & Mary may only achieve compliance by expanding opportunities rather than shifting existing resources, then the athletics department would need to provide additional women's scholarships annually, shift men's scholarship dollars within the current allocation or a combination of the two approaches. The recent anonymous gift pledging $1.5 million toward women's athletics scholarships offers a tremendous jump start in these efforts. Provided as a challenge grant in FY22, FY23 and FY24, if matching funds are raised, the combined gifts will generate $1 million for scholarships annually for three years and significantly bolster William & Mary Athletics' ability to afford opportunity to talented women.
Treatment
Finally, the forthcoming gender equity review will consider a number of facets of William & Mary Athletics operations, including but not limited to equipment and supplies, scheduling of games and practices, medical support, travel, access to coaching and academic support, facilities, publicity and more. These operational aspects, too, are important components of equitable treatment of student-athletes. In this analysis, further financial obligations may be discovered.
Financial Stability
By state law, as an auxiliary enterprise, W&M Athletics must be self-supporting. The university cannot use revenues from tuition, nor state funds, to support athletics. Nor can resources be reallocated from academic programs or other auxiliaries. Moreover, institutional support – which comes primarily in the form of dedicated student fees – cannot exceed 70% of operating revenues without jeopardizing the university's Tier 3 status as defined by the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia. Thus, any percentage increase in institutional support must be matched by a comparable percentage increase in athletics-generated revenue. That is, at our current levels, W&M Athletics would need to increase its revenues, which include philanthropy, by $1 for every $1 increase in institutional support.
In sum, W&M Athletics must be self-sufficient by Virginia law. That means we cannot run an operational deficit and must balance the budget annually. The following overview addresses two significant components of W&M Athletics' financial model: operation budgets (annual) and capital investments (long term).
Operating Budget Model
In a typical year, private funds provide nearly a third of W&M Athletics revenues. These funds are split between endowment incomes that provide ongoing support and expendable resources that must be raised annually to cover operational expenses. The latter equal roughly 20% of the annual operating budget, a position that has been viable during a prosperous economy but that has made the department very vulnerable under recession. W&M Athletics depends on the generosity of our donors to provide for our incredible student-athletes, coaches and staff – their scholarships, salaries and more. They are vital each and every year. Five strategic plans in a row have identified increased resources as a key success factor and sought them. None have successfully addressed the overall challenge of deficit budgeting, which the pandemic has made unsustainable.
The economic downturn in FY20 demonstrated how vital annual giving is to W&M Athletics. During the pandemic, giving to the Tribe Club dropped precipitously, creating significant financial challenges for the department. It's absolutely essential that W&M Athletics convey the importance of annual giving and rebuild donor confidence, even as we continue to seek the endowment gifts that will provide the needed financial stability in the long term.
W&M Athletics is invested in people, which typically accounts for 70% of expenses between scholarships and salaries. These investments are ongoing commitments to our student-athletes – to provide financial aid and quality coaching that create an exceptional William & Mary experience. We depend on our generous donors to provide those experiences through annual giving and endowed funds.
Given the financial challenges in the current fiscal year, W&M Athletics will be guided by two operating principles:
- Train and compete as safely and fiscally responsibly as possible.
- Minimize the impact of the budget shortfall on our people — student-athletes, coaches and staff.
The FY21 budget depends upon annual giving support. That is a baseline budget need that does not account for the difficult decisions already made to limit expenses. With the understanding that W&M Athletics cannot operate at a deficit in the current fiscal year:
- W&M Athletics needs to raise $4 million in current use funds during FY21, with $2.8 million secured no later than March 1. Without this confirmed support, further painful decisions – in addition to actions already taken – will be required to balance the budget in the current fiscal year. Our preliminary goal for FY22 is $4.2 million, a trajectory that will be continued in subsequent annual goals.
- In addition, forthcoming endowment goals with targets by FY26 will enable more permanent ongoing support for each sport, recognizing the necessary immediate timeframe for providing sustained funding for our programs.
Annual giving is vital to our programs. Given the importance of annual giving, one way to compare the respective level of support across sports is through an assessment of the average annual giving per student-athlete. This ratio accounts for differences in roster sizes and hence the number of alumni, family and friends likely to support a specific program. The following two graphs show the recent average of Tribe Club giving by sport (FY15-FY20) divided by the number of participants (FY19). (Note that the outdoor track number of participants was used rather than the duplicated headcount. Many of the same athletes participate in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. Duplicated headcount would give a much lower annual giving ratio.)
Establishing fundraising targets for each program is a critical component of any path forward. One way to do this is to build shared expectations of support per student-athlete that could sustain programs. Using this scale makes clear the respective giving levels within programs. The number of student-athletes influences the expected size of the alumni and friend population.
Building from FY19 figures, the table below shows the gap for each program to reach a common level of annual giving support per student-athlete of $7,500. This per-student-athlete level advances a common expectation among all athletics alumni in generating support for their respective programs. This shared level would also provide greater self-sufficiency for each sport, demonstrably increasing its sustainability through the ongoing commitment of alumni and friends.
The table also recognizes that a few of W&M Athletics' programs very much consider themselves one program, even though there are men's and women's components. This view has been shared by student-athletes and alumni alike. These programs do enjoy financial efficiencies through shared coaching staffs and expenses, so it's natural to set a shared goal reflecting the desired "one program" mindset. To be consistent with such a philosophy, sport-specific philanthropy must be directed to the programs as a whole.
The following offers a preliminary framework that will be finalized by early 2021. Reaching the targets outlined below would achieve the immediate fundraising need in FY21 and sustaining support at this level redresses the budget shortfall for out years FY22, permitting the work of the gender equity review to unfold fully. Further projections are needed beyond that point that would be consistent with the recommendations of that review. (Note that the table below reflects individual participation in M/W Track, not duplicated headcount.)
In addition to annual giving support, endowment support provides consistent, ongoing funds for W&M Athletics' sport programs. Given the pressing need for expendable funds each year, our immediate fundraising focus must be annual giving. Over a longer horizon before FY26, building endowed funds – particularly for scholarships – is critical to each sport program's budget stability.
Capital Budget Model
The above figures all relate to operating expenses per sport, not facilities. Capital budgeting support from restricted private gifts, endowments or debt financing supported by student facility fees are also required to sustain those programs. The sustainable financial model going forward must also incorporate expectations for contributions by supporters of each sport towards maintenance, renovation and new facilities as needed.
Excellence
In general, broad support exists for the ideals that have been emphasized throughout strategic reviews of athletics over the past two decades. Tribe 2025 accurately identified these themes:
- Academic Excellence
- Competitive Success
- Financial Stability
- Enhanced Student-Athlete Experiences
- Uncompromising Ethics
- Excellent Facilities
Our ability to achieve excellence in these areas depends on our funding, so we will have to make difficult choices about our priorities across these categories. Those decisions would logically flow from the university's view of the role of intercollegiate athletics as part of W&M's overall strategic vision. The inclusion of intercollegiate athletics in the university's strategic planning process now underway will provide an appropriate forum for clarifying the role athletics is to play going forward.
While there is considerable agreement about the categories of excellence, there is clearly less agreement about how competitive success or competitive excellence should be defined and who should define it. W&M Athletics – its student-athletes, coaches and staff – must first develop a clear, shared understanding of excellence. We will likely have different measures of success for our different programs, and those standards would be reflected in priorities for allocating our limited funds. This has, in fact, already been the case, as reflected in annual performance agreements for coaches and the allocation of scholarships, travel funds, and so forth.
If, as may well be likely, we have to re-visit the reclassification of some sports in the future, we will need to do a much better job articulating how all of the various measures of excellence would be weighed in any such decisions. The gender equity review will provide an important frame of reference for that analysis.
