Since head coach Joe DiPietro took over the Temple program in 2008 the Owls have been on the rise. Matter of fact in 2013 they set a school record for wins and led the country in home runs with 94 as they headed to the NCAA Regional. Last year was also the first year that all of the players were those recruited by DiPietro and his staff. They also had the school’s first All-American in Steph Pasquale who was also named the Atlantic 10 player of the year. On his team DiPietro said “We are also the only team in the five prior years that has increased their win total each year. I think that speaks to where we are and where we were going before this decision came about. In the classroom we also did well with a team GPA of 3.28.” One would think that the school and the athletic department would be proud and that this is what people would be talking about as the 2014 season starts, but unfortunately that is not the case. In early December the University announced it would be eliminating seven varsity programs including softball.
Coach DiPietro was caught off guard “I was notified of this decision about 45 minutes prior to the Athletic Director reading a statement to the seven teams that we’re being cut. None of us saw this coming. We had just signed three players to National Letters of Intent two weeks prior, so we didn’t see it coming.” The administration decided that a blind side was the most appropriate way to handle this. The move left coaches, players, alumni, recruits and families bewildered. DiPierto stated “The reaction of my players was complete devastation! Our team chemistry is amazing. That is something opposing coaches always compliment me on, how close our players are. They feel that they’re being looked at as a dollar sign instead of human beings.”
This says a lot about the athletic department, the administration and the board of trustees. They have used every excuse they can to justify this decision including; financial, title XI and crumbling infrastructure. When they give this many reasons with almost no specifics you have to wonder what the real reason is. Oddly, Lewis Katz who is one of the Board of Trustees donated 25 million dollars to the athletic department shortly before this decision was made. Many believe that this move, which the school claims saves them roughly three million dollars per year, is to help fund two main sports. Those would be football and basketball. The school denies this saying in several local newspapers that those two programs are self-sufficient. This then begs the question as to where the 25 million is going because it is obvious that it is not going to the sports programs they may have actually needed it. The football team spends roughly 1.6 million per year to play at Lincoln Financial Field. It is also rumored that Temple is looking at buying a defunct high school located near the college. The asking price according to the Philadelphia Daily News is around 34 million dollars. It is odd that a school that claims it cannot afford to fund seven programs, which cost three million per year, yet can entertain the idea of paying 34 million for property.
Coach DiPietro believes he knows one reason why Softball and Baseball were targeted “It seems that softball and baseball were cut for one reason and one reason only and that’s because we play off campus at our satellite campus. Our facility is the nicest of any of the other teams. The reason why is because I fundraised for all of our improvements. It just isn’t right what’s being done to my players and this program.”
Who could blame him for being upset? The fact that this decision came with no warning shows that institutions care more about money than they do the students they claim to value.
I want to end this by quoting part of Temple Universities own mission statement; “Temple seeks to create new knowledge that improves the human condition and uplifts the human spirit. To achieve this goal, Temple maintains its commitment to recruiting, retaining, and supporting outstanding faculty that prize diversity of thought, excel in scholarly endeavors, and support the aspirations of capable students.”
When reading that you have to wonder how the athletes from the seven programs fit into such a mission. Maybe the Board of Trustees needs to do some studying of their own mission.
There are several efforts underway to try and get this decision reversed. On Facebook you can visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/savetempleathletics there is currently a group of people representing each of the affected sports that’s trying to arrange a meeting with the Board of Trustees as well.
