Loeshcke: Money Not Enough to Save Baseball and Soccer

Towson University President Maravene Loeschke said Tuesday morning that additional funding proposed by Gov. Martin O'Malley will not be enough to save the baseball and soccer programs.

"No, I don't see it unless additional money drops in from the sky as it did in this condition," said Loeschke, who spoke to WBAL 1090 AM about the additional funding proposed in O'Malley's supplemental budget.

[You can listen to the interview here.]

The Towson University president said the school still needs to deal with compliance issues related to federal Title IX laws.

A spokeswoman for the governor said the compromise gives the program $300,000 a year for the next two years. Supporters of the program will also have to raise about $100,000 annually to help make the program self-sufficient.

Students at the university will also see activity fees increase by 1 percent or about $8 per year, Loeschke said on the radio station.

During that same interview, Loeschke was asked about being portrayed as the bad guy in the decision to eliminate the two teams last month.

The president said some times her job calls for making decisions that are "extremely unpopular and will never be completely understood."

"You take the heat as long as you know you're doing the right thing," Loeschke said.

During that same interview, Loeschke was asked about plans by a so-called White Student Union group to do safety patrols on campus.

Matthew Heimbach, president of the group told The Baltimore Sun that the patrols will occur a few times a week as a result of what he claims is a rise in black-on-white crime.

In response, the university announced they would beef up police patrols on campus.

Loeschke, speaking on WBAL, denounced the White Student Union saying it didn't exist on campus.

"There's not a white student union," Loeschke said of the group that is not sanctioned by the college. "They call themselves that but that's not what they are."

"This is an outside group with one student in it and they will not be doing safety patrols on campus," Loeshcke said.

Loeschke said student groups are not allowed to perform their own safety patrols on campus though it doesn't mean students cannot walk together carrying flashlights.