‘I’ve got the heartbeat of over 500 alumni’: Committee working to reinstate men’s track at CMU
Freshman thrower Connor Covert competes on Jan. 12 at the Jack Skoog Indoor Track and Field Complex.
When Central Michigan cut its men’s track and field program in May, bitter disappointment hit current and former student-athletes, as well as current and former coaches.
Jim Knapp was one of the more disappointed former members of the Chippewa program. Knapp coached the program from 1985-2009 and is enshrined in the CMU Hall of Fame. He coached three Mid-American Conference outdoor championship teams and one conference indoor title, was named MAC Coach of the Year eight times and coached 97 MAC champions and 16 All-Americans.
Knapp said he has heard from coaches around the country and more than 500 alumni of the Chippewa program.
“When the release came out that (CMU) dropped track, my phone was ringing off the hook,” Knapp said. “Calls, text messages asking what the blankety blank is going on up there?”
CMU and former athletic director Michael Alford decided to cut the program in May due to financial hardships the university dealt with amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, the estimated immediate savings were over $300,000 while long-term savings were $628,798.
“We did not make this decision lightly, but we are facing a new financial reality due to enrollment challenges and now COVID-19,” Alford said in May. “Hundreds of students have participated in this longstanding, successful program at Central Michigan, and we know this will impact them — and supporters of this program — greatly.”
Knapp is now co-chairing a committee with Ted Rockett and Kent Baker with the goal of reinstating men’s track and field at CMU. The Facebook group Knapp, Rockett and Baker started gained 400 members within 24 hours and has reached almost 600 members.
In release sent out by the committee, one of the main focuses of the group’s efforts is diversity within the program. The release cited NCAA demographics on an eight-year average from 2012-19. Men’s track and field was the third men’s sport – behind football and men’s basketball – by a wide margin in terms of participating Black male student-athletes.
From 2012-19, football averaged 13,316 Black male athletes and men’s basketball averaged 3,132. In the same timeframe, men’s track averaged 2,861 Black student-athletes per year across Division I. The next two sports – soccer and baseball – trailed by a large margin at 565 and 559, respectively.
Diversity was also the main argument at William and Mary, Brown, Minnesota and Clemson.
“When I was (at CMU), we had a significant proportion of the men’s track team that was African American,” Knapp said. “Outstanding young men, graduated, gone on to life and doing very well in their chosen fields.
"Diversity in men’s track at Central has dropped off in the last few years.”
Knapp and the committee presented arguments to CMU President Bob Davies and new athletic director Amy Folan. Knapp said the main focus of the presentation was diversity. But another major point was helping the administration understand it would not save the money it claimed to save.
According to the 2019-20 operating budget, men's track and cross country combined cost CMU $241,794. In the 2020-21 budget, the program cost the university $104,303.
Whether it is the cost of the equipment or travel for a meet on the road, Knapp said CMU would not save as much as estimated.
“The bus, the driver, the overnight, the meals, all of it is going to cost $1,000,” Knapp said. “In year’s past, that bus is half-full of female athletes and male athletes and they’d split the cost. Now, that bus is going to be half-full of females and they’re going to pay the whole cost."
Knapp added the fact that CMU was only able to utilize nine scholarships last season. When the program was cut, there were 36 men on the roster. While none of the athletes receive a full ride, 27 were paying their way to go to school entirely.
“That’s a lot of money that’s no longer coming into the school,” Knapp said. “Athletics people would say, ‘We never see that money, it goes into a different kitty.' … That money is still coming into CMU – what you do with it and where it goes is up to you – the athletic budget is miniscule when it comes to the university budget.”
When CMU cut men’s track, it fell below compliance to the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision – the top rung of college football. According to NCAA Bylaw 20.9.9.1, a school must sponsor 16 sports and at least six must be men’s sports. CMU was granted a waiver through the 2021-22 school year and must add a men’s sport by the end of the next school year.
Knapp said reinstating men’s track would be the best decision for CMU to return to FBS-compliance.
After all, Knapp said he has the “heartbeat of over 500 alumni,” and are not looking to be an adversary to CMU, but be helpful, rather.
“Our alumni, 500-plus men, love CMU, proud of their alma mater, they still wear their maroon and gold wherever they go, bragging about CMU all the time,” Knapp said. “They want to work together to get this back. They’re not going to bad mouth, create animosity, they’re not going to do that.”
