It's something that was developing even before I got here. I got here in 2001. From the numbers perspective, we had seen the teams staying where they were. They weren't increasing. So participation played a big role. The students were not getting involved in these programs. |
The biggest expense was the travel funding. That was by far the biggest concern. It was pretty close to doubling the cost of taking a bus to Waynesburg College, maybe from $400 to $800. |
The Slippery Rock decision had nothing to do with our decision. We had ongoing talks about [dropping the sports]. It was just coincidental that it happened at the same time. |
We want the coaches to concentrate on what sport they were brought to Thiel to coach, the reason that we hired them to coach. From a monetary standpoint, we didn't think that it would be feasible to get a head coach with the necessary expertise to put in these programs. |