OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Baptist University, an NCAA Division II institution in Shawnee, on Monday, announced deep cuts to the school’s athletic budget.
“In order to address the long-term financial stability of the university, the Board of Trustees, at its November 6 meeting, approved reductions impacting every area of campus,” OBU President Dr. Heath Thomas and Athletics Director Robert Davenport said in an open letter. “In line with the university’s overall budget proposal, the OBU Athletics Department has been asked to reduce its annual operating budget by approximately $3 million.”
OBU officials said the only way they can shave that amount of money off the budget is to cut seven varsity athletic programs, starting in the 2021-22 school year. The impacted programs include men’s golf, men’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s tennis, and women’s lacrosse. That encompasses 130 of the university’s 583 student-athletes, Davenport said.
The OBU teams affected will be able to compete in their upcoming seasons in the winter and spring, but after that, the programs will be discontinued. Student-athletes can enter the transfer portal now or wait until after their season has ended.
“We will honor all existing scholarships for individuals who choose to complete their undergraduate degree within the standard four-year window,” Thomas and Davenport said. Students must continue to meet all NCAA progress-toward-degree requirements and maintain good academic standing and standards of student conduct, they said.
All support services, including sports medicine, academic services, nutrition, etc., “will continue to be provided without interruption through the end of the spring term,” Davenport said. In addition, the contracts of affected coaches will be honored through May 31, 2021, at the end of the university’s fiscal year.
In deciding which sports to cut, OBU officials said they examined several factors. Those included net financial impact on the institution, conference sport sponsorship requirements, regionality and conference affiliation, future capital/facility needs, current and future competitiveness, and Title IX compliance.
“As part of its commitment to the enduring financial health of the institution, university leadership conducted an exhaustive financial analysis to help departments identify potential cost-saving measures and other operational efficiencies to reduce the overall budget by the necessary amount,” Thomas said. “After extensive discussions, it became clear that reducing the number of varsity athletics programs provided the path forward to achieve the required financial benchmarks set forth by the Board of Trustees and chart a path toward long-term sustainability.”
OBU is expected to save $2.5 million in 2022, and the savings will rise to $3.1 million after that, according to the university.
Oklahoma Baptist joins Langston University as state institutions that have cut programs or canceled seasons due to financial issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. The University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University also have imposed budget reductions and have asked coaches to take a pay cut.
“While these reductions are painful, we believe they are nonetheless necessary,” Thomas said.
“Maintaining a sustainable number of varsity teams will increase the viability and strength of our remaining programs and allow OBU to redouble its commitment to all-around excellence in intercollegiate athletics.”
The cuts will leave the Bison with five men’s teams and five women’s teams in the fall of 2021.