The history of successive proposals and adaptations within the Athletics Department represents, I believe, a faithful and consistent effort to fulfill the goal students had supported in their 1995 resolution - to have Cal State Northridge participate in an athletics conference. I understand the point of view that would describe the changes in our circumstance as poor planning. I also regret that important information was not made available sooner and have addressed this issue in private supervisory conversations with the appropriate staff. We chose the last course of action because the University does not have sufficient funds to support both additional athletic expenses and our other academic and organizational priorities. Others might have made different decisions with different consequences.
Fans naturally oppose any decision to drop their preferred sport.
The suggestion that we could have chosen to drop football does not take into account that eliminating one of the Big Sky sports would have put an end to conference play for all Big Sky teams, both men's and women's. We made the choice to preserve conference participation for the largest number of student athletes. Time will tell if this was the best choice. In the meantime, I remain open to all proposals and alternatives that provide more positive options in this very difficult time. I do not want to overlook the fact that the revised program sends a new message to girls and women in the Valley about opportunities they will have to participate in collegiate sports.