Stanford cut 11 varsity sports Wednesday, joining a growing list of universities to eliminate athletic programs. The cuts will come at the end of the 2020-21 academic year and include: men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men’s volleyball, and wrestling.
The school said funding 36 athletic teams was “not sustainable.” Before the pandemic, Stanford already projected a $12 million deficit, which ballooned to a best-case $25 million deficit once the coronavirus swept the nation. Stanford will honor all scholarship commitments and coaches’ contracts.
Other College Sports News:
— Voluntary football workouts at University of North Carolina have been stopped as 37 of 429 student-athletes, coaches and staff tested positive for COVID-19. Ohio State also paused athletic activities following recent testing, but didn’t release results.
— Vanderbilt cut its athletic communications staff. The department will be absorbed into the university with the employees who lose their jobs able to reapply for positions in September.
— NCAA Division III’s Centennial Conference has suspended fall sports, while the Presidents’ Athletic Conference has limited team schedules to conference only.
