Stanford Students Protest University's Decision To Cut 11 Sports

PALO ALTO, CA — A group of Stanford students protested the university’s decision to cut 11 varsity sports on Monday afternoon at the school’s quad, painting graffiti outside the office of Marc Tessier-Lavigne, the university’s president, that read “We Belong,” “Let Us Play,” and “You Can’t Cut Me.”

According to The Stanford Daily, the graffiti consisted of washable chalk, and students were later photographed cleaning up the walls of the building. Some athletes and students have condemned the graffiti, the student-run newspaper reported.

Last July, Stanford announced it was cutting nearly a third of its sports, blaming the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cuts included the men's and women's fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men's rowing, co-ed and women's sailing programs.

The cuts would go into effect at the conclusion of the 2020-2021 school year, and 20 support staff positions would be eliminated.

"This is heartbreaking news to share," read an open letter penned by Tessier-Lavigne and Provost Persis Drell.

The letter said Stanford's athletics department was operating on a deficit projected to exceed $12 million in the 2021 fiscal year and grow steadily in the following years due to increased operating costs. The pandemic has exacerbated the department's financial woes, with a revised forecast accounting for the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis projecting a $25 million deficit for the 2021 fiscal year, the university leaders said.

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The sports were selected for elimination based on several factors including cost, interest and the local and national interest in the sport, gender equality Title IX impact and impact on the diversity of the school's student-athlete population.

But recent outcry, with help from an alumni organization called 36SportsStrong that includes 39 Olympians and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a former Stanford football player, has led to backlash against the university’s decision. The group has raised more than $50 million in funding to save the sports, according to ESPN.

Tessier-Lavigne was expected to meet with the university’s Board of Trustees regarding the decision to remove the sports on Monday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“As photos show, chalk can be cleaned with soap and water; cutting 11 sports can’t,” Jeremy Jacobs, a spokesman for 36SportsStrong, told the Chronicle. “We ask President Tessier-Lavigne and the Board to update the Stanford community as soon as possible, and to indicate they’ll work with us to reinstate the 11 teams.”

Patch editor Gideon Rubin contributed to this report.