AKRON, Ohio — The University of Akron (UA) announced a new round of cuts involving the elimination of three intercollegiate sports on Thursday in a press release.
Men’s cross country, men’s golf and women’s tennis are all being discontinued effective at the end of this academic year.
The move, which is a part of UA's new plan to restructure will leave the school with 17 sports teams, 7 men's sports and 10 women's.
'The elimination of these sports, along with salary reductions for select coaches, staff position eliminations, scholarship and operating expenditure reductions will total approximately $4.4 million" the press release details.
The cuts will also affect 23 male athletes and 9 females. The school says that they told the student the news today, in an effort to give them as much time as possible to pursue other opportunities if they wish to continue their college athletics career.
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“These decisions are very difficult, but they are important and necessary at this time,” said Director of Athletics Larry Williams, “this action aligns us with our Mid-American Conference peers in the total number of sports and is part of the ongoing effort to redesign the University to ensure that UA continues to invest in high-demand, high-quality academic programs.”
Williams said that many factors were accounted for before making these incredibly difficult decisions, including program costs and facilities.