It’s being called a “dark day” for Fairfield athletics, and for 85 student-athletes and 10 coaches the effects of last Thursday’s announcement to cut the football and hockey programs will be felt for years to come.
“The university doesn’t know what they just did to 21 kids [hockey players]. None of us [underclassmen members] will be back,” said Ryan Murphy ’06, a member of the hockey team that plans to transfer after this year. “They basically gave us three weeks to find somewhere else to go. Every day is one less day that we’re going to spend with each other.”
Days later, punter Jeff Gomulinski, ’05, remained speechless.
“There are no words to describe how I feel right now. But I just have to move on and make a decision,” said Gomulinski, who plans to transfer after this semester.
An even more disparaging factor of the university’s decision, according to the players, was the lack of communication the administration had with both programs prior to the decision.
“Everyone was in complete disbelief. When you work so hard for the school, you’d expect a level of respect in return,” said Joe Murphy ’04, a member of the football team. “I don’t think it was fair how they led us along and didn’t cancel spring workouts when they knew they were going to cut the program. I definitely think with Coach Bernard leaving, it was a premeditated decision to cut the program.”
The athletic administration also led the hockey team to believe that its program would be receiving a new facility and moving the program in a forward direction, according to head coach Jim Hunt. It wasn’t until Thursday morning’s phone call by Director of Athletics Eugene Doris to Hunt that the hockey program’s future was doomed.
“We feel the university didn’t think about what they were doing. I think they could have given us the heads-up, and let us know what they were thinking,” said Hunter Greeley, ’04. “We thought we were getting a new rink. Just boom, and its gone. All they are thinking about is cutting money.”
The university cited the struggling local economy and the overwhelming operating expenses of both programs as the primary factors behind the school’s decision to abruptly cut the programs.
The approximate total of $570,000 spent annually on the two programs will now be relocated within the university’s financial aid program for all eligible students as well as “higher priority athletic programs,” including men’s and women’s basketball, according to Fairfield University President Rev. Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J.
“In today’s uncertain economic climate, colleges and universities across the nation are being forced to make difficult decisions to maintain standards of excellence, while at the same time balancing budgets and tuition increases,” Fr. Kelley said in last Thursday’s press conference at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
Both Fr. Kelley and Doris said the university as well as the MAAC didn’t consider football and hockey to be priority sports, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to justify large expenditures for these programs. Despite the disbandment of the two programs, Fairfield still has the highest athletic budget in MAAC.
“Restructuring the varsity athletic program is the soundest way to provide the kind of support we believe is necessary for the remaining 19 varsity programs … to maintain the levels of quality and success we desire and have achieved,” Doris said.
Doris didn’t deny the possibility of more varsity programs being cut in the future, but assured there wouldn’t be any other cuts for the current budget year.
The university offered the opportunity for the hockey program to remain as a club sport, but the players took the drop in level of competition as an insult.
“Nobody wants to stay around for that nonsense. The administration never took the program seriously,” said Ryan Murphy. “We’ve played the game for 15 years. That [club team] is a joke … this is our lives.”
However, the administration remains confident that the decision was appropriate in light of university priorities where the budget committee has questioned the level of investment the university has put into athletics.
“Fairfield University’s commitment to excellence and success in athletics is unshakable,” Fr. Kelley said. “At the same time, this decision, while extraordinarily difficult, is made with complete confidence that it is both right and good for Fairfield.”
The timing of the university’s decision also has had a significant impact on the players’ decisions to transfer elsewhere. It is estimated that every underclassmen on the hockey team, as well as the majority of the underclassmen football players, will transfer from the university after this semester. NCAA regulations will allow these players to become immediately eligible next year.
“There’s no right time for a decision like this. Some would have criticized Canisius by saying that they did it within the middle of the [football] season,” Doris said. “I think it comes when the budget process itself deems it the right time and what’s best for the institution.”
Hunt said he has mixed feelings on how the university decided to handle the situation during the middle of the hockey team’s season.
“Part of me says: At least I have the last 10 games to appreciate the guys,” Hunt said. “It would have been nice to know earlier because it really makes it hard to make the playoffs now because of the distraction.”
Jack Devaney, ’05, said it’s incredibly hard for the hockey team to continue with its season representing the university.
“I don’t want to have any relations with the university,” Devaney said. “Like our coach said, we’re playing for the names on the back of our jerseys, not the logo on the front.”
The hockey team’s angered emotions boiled over last weekend in its two games when fights broke out in each game, partly as a result of the team’s frustration, according to Greeley.
“We’re all just very frustrated. Our emotions are going high,” Greeley said. “Someone hits you the wrong way we’re just likely to snap easier. We have nothing to play for but our pride. We’re all a little on the edge right now.”
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