Current and former Georgetown College athletes have found themselves blindsided and disappointed by the Kentucky school’s decision to cut several athletic programs for what it says are financial reasons, WKYT reported.
The school announced they’d be making these cuts on Sunday. The current and former athletes and coaches have taken to social media since the announcement.
Two of the programs being cut are men’s and women’s varsity golf.
“We’ve sent emails to the president and athletic directors. We’ve posted on Facebook and social media. We’ve got the petition. Now we just want to know why. A lot of us were just caught off guard,” said Baylee Salyers, former Georgetown College women’s golf player.
Georgetown College said in a statement on Tuesday: “Georgetown College is taking steps to control institutional costs that include the discontinuation of some of the College’s athletic teams. Those teams affected are men’s and women’s varsity golf, competitive archery, and junior varsity programs in men’s and women’s soccer. Scholarships for all affected student athletes will be honored, but the College will no longer fund competition for these teams at this time.
“These actions are part of a broader restructuring of the College’s budget that was necessary to respond to rapidly rising costs and to eliminate a gap between projected costs and projected revenue.
“The College acknowledges and respects the pain and disappointment felt by affected student-athletes and by others affected by budget decisions, but hard choices were necessary in order to remain fiscally responsible in a challenging economic environment.”
Salyers started a change.org petition to save the golf program that has more than 1,800 signatures as of Wednesday.
