Stanford University announced that they are cutting 11 varsity sports due to finances: men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men’s volleyball and wrestling.
In their announcement, the university says they are heartbroken about this and that they are compelled to do so for financial reasons. I find this hard to believe given that Stanford has a $27.7 billion endowment. I understand that not every school can have 36 varsity sports and that outside of men’s basketball and football, most sports barely break even if at all, but given all the money that they have, I would think Stanford could easily afford it.
My guess is Stanford just doesn’t want to put money into sports that nobody cares about. Take men’s volleyball for example: That’s a sport that honestly should belong at the club level like it does at most schools. There’s not enough interest nationwide in men’s volleyball. Stanford citing finances is just a way to save face for what’s really going on. It’s almost laughable when you look at the endowment. Thoughts?