Athletics Cancellation: One Year Later
On Nov. 12, 2022, Whittier College announced. that Men’s Football would be terminated — with the addition of Men’s Lacrosse, and Men and Women’s Golf, after football was a part of athletics for 135 years. The College states that the reasoning was due to statistics that showed the decline of youth playing tackle football and also the intent being to. protect students from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). This was. a heavily reported story to come out of Whittier College at the time, causing an uproar in the community, most notably from alumni who formed Save Whittier College in response to the sports’ cancellation.
The decision was reported by NBC, Los Angeles Times, Fox 11 and the local Whittier Daily News. Students who were in the sport programs had to find other colleges. to transfer to.
Poet Caroline Valle was quoted in the LA Times saying, “Not getting a proper reason from the college, I feel like I’ve been tossed aside.” According to article, a. lot of the students in the program were not properly informed of the cuts. “When we dropped these sports, it was a difficult time for all of our students whether they were student athletes or non-student athletes because of the impact athletics has on an institution especially a small institution like us,” says Rock Carter, Director of Athletics.
Carter has been. the Director of Athletics since 2019 and remembered the challenges he faced after the loss of the sports. “There were definitely some fires that had to be put out, “ he says. He recalls that people were angry but not just the students but more so their parents.
Carter reports that he had spent a lot of time answering questions and concerns and tried to give the best answer he could but his knowledge of the school’s intentions was limited and he admits it still is. Carter and the Athletics Department had to prepare and keep the students and parents of the athletes informed but he admitted that the institution and its integrity became a question.
Carter says “It doesn’t even stop at athletics, people were talking about the school , how long is Whittier going to be around, is Whittier in as bad shape as they say it is?” The Athletics Department had to not lose its hold. Carter says his coaches and Department did a great job and kept things together. “We had to build the trust again,” says Carter.
He shares that the Athletic Department was disappointed to be put in that situation. He assumed that the Administration knew their decision was going to have backlash but considers it a disappointment for everyone.
“The games were always well attended, and our. patrons and fans had nothing but good things to say. about the game day experience, I don’t think it was a thing anyone saw coming,” said Jack Goodwille, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications. He remembers being shocked for the Men’s Lacrosse team. as they had a roster of 45 players, the college maximum.
According to the College, Whittier Athletics is still fighting strong.
With 18 teams still at Whittier College, the Athletics assure that there is nothing more important than being the best for the athletes still here. Goodwille said that though the anniversary is coming up, the Department is only looking forward and not to the past.
“We have a great thing going here” says Goodwille before praising volleyball athletes Analise and Brenna Kusleika. for receiving athlete of the year. “There is one of two ways you can respond to getting punched in the face. You can fight back, or stay down for the ten count, [Whittier College] got up and we fought back,” said Goodwille.
Courtesy of Jacob Perez / Quaker Campus
