UC San Diego Students Vote in Favor of Div. I Move: Report

LA JOLLA, CA: Students at UC San Diego are willing to pay more athletic fees in order to compete in a tougher league, according to a news report.

Election results announced Tuesday support the university's move to compete in NCAA Division I sports — except football — The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

More than 70 percent of Tritons who participated in the election were in favor of the move, which would take annual athletic fees from $388 to $868, according to the newspaper.

Undergrads voted 6,137 to 2,567 in favor of the move, according to a post on UC San Diego's Twitter page.

The Division II school must also receive enough votes from members of the Big West Conference — which counts four other University of California campuses among its membership — in order to make the jump. UCSD does not plan to start a football program.

"This has been a student-centered initiative from the very beginning, and to see that the majority of our students favor a move to NCAA Division I demonstrates that they recognize the change as a progressive step for both our athletic program and UC San Diego as a whole," said UCSD Director of Athletics Earl Edwards.

"Division I will help extend the entire university's culture of excellence, align us with peer academic institutions, improve the student experience, strengthen our brand, increase alumni engagement and further our community connection," Edwards said. "This move will impact the entire campus in a multitude of ways."

A move to Division I would be a multi-year process that includes a review by the Academic Senate and application to the NCAA.

If UCSD eventually makes the move, it would become the third university in the area to compete in Division I, joining San Diego State and the University of San Diego.

The Aztecs are members of the Mountain West and the Toreros are in the West Coast Conference. Both offer football, with the USD program in the non- scholarship Pioneer Football League.

Read more at Sandiegouniontribune.com.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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