Dartmouth reinstates swimming

On Wednesday afternoon, the Dartmouth men's and women's swimming teams loaded the buses, prepared to set off to a meet at Middlebury College. For all they knew, this would be one of the final meets in the history of the program: the Dartmouth administration announced on Nov. 25 that it would terminate the men's and women's swimming programs effective at the end of this season because of budget cuts. But before the buses departed, the teams welcomed two unexpected guests, Dartmouth Athletic Director JoAnn Harper and Dean of the College, James Larimore. Their announcement delayed the departure, but junior swimmer Priscilla Zee said that Middlebury understood. There indeed will be a next season for Big Green swimming. And many more after that, too. "Everybody just jumped up in the air," senior captain Louis Fidel said. "People were screaming, people were laughing, people were hugging each other." After notifying the team, Dartmouth officials released a press release on Wednesday night and the Student Assembly subsequently emailed the entire student community about the decision. "We are delighted to reach an agreement that presents an opportunity for the swimming and diving program at Dartmouth to continue, while recognizing the budget goals that Dartmouth must meet," Larimore said in a release issued by the Dartmouth Office of Public Affairs. "The College does face significant budget challenges and will take the measures it must to be fiscally responsible. The agreement supports Dartmouth in meeting our fiscal responsibilities and also maintaining the swimming and diving program." The news comes after Dartmouth parents and alumni raised two million dollars in pledges, which will be turned over to the College on June 30, 2003 - this will fund the program for the next ten years. According to the release, Larimore will fund the 2003-2004 swim season with "funds reallocated from his area." The funds raised do not represent a permanent endowment, however, and in ten years, Dartmouth will investigate other funding options The administration reinstated the team after considerable distress and petitioning by Dartmouth students and swim team parents. Perhaps most noticeable of the efforts to save the swim team was when sophomore swimmer Jennifer Kunkel's boyfriend, Jon Lenihan, posted the team on ebay.com, hoping to receive a bid for $212,000 that would fund the team for one year. After a week, Dartmouth informed eBay to remove the auction from its site, even though at one point, someone had "bid" the requested $212,000. In addition to student efforts, parents immediately formed committees to attack the problem, and ended up establishing a website to "Support Dartmouth Aquatics." Beginning in mid-December, the website asked visitors to participate in the "Dartmouth Invitational," where people could donate monetarily to the cause and be recognized according to their relationship with Dartmouth swimming. The site also featured media attention, information in order to write a letter to various Dartmouth administrators and letters which had already been sent to the officials. As of yesterday, the site had garnered 14,087 hits since Dec. 1. Junior swimmer Priscilla Zee said that she thinks that the administration never expected that the student body would give much regard to cutting the swim team. After nearly 300 students gathered in front of Wright's house on the evening of Nov. 25 and 700 students staged a sit-in in the Parkhurst Administration Building on Dec. 5 - Dartmouth's only reading day - it was clear that the issue had spread much further than the swim team. While on the bus, Harper reportedly professed that the decision to restore the team was due to the passion of swimmers and students alike. "What they did to reinstate the team really restored my faith in people and really showed me what people can accomplish," Zee said. "It really showed me a lot about what I can do as a person, and what we can do to create change." The Student Assembly provided the integral link between student opinions on campus and College officials. Looking retrospectively, the organization may have initially swayed the administration's opinions in the Dec. 8 meeting, where representatives provided several budget initiatives that would allow the teams to survive, while at the same time limit spending. "Before that, [the administration] was adamant that there would be no compromise," Vice President for Student Life Amit Anand said. "It was directly a result of that meeting that that compromise was necessary. "The protests and rallies make the national media. But it's really a more intellectual and civil discussion that lead to results. 700-to-800 people did not lead to the decision. That works less than a well leaded argument, which we did." In an ESPN radio show, Kunkel remarked to host Trey Wingo about her feelings about not transferring, "You know how they always say, love the college, hate the institution." Now that the College has reinstated the program, however, is it possible to forgive Dartmouth for forcing the rollercoaster of emotions that the administration shoved on 53 student-athletes and college at large? "I have a bitter taste in my mouth because there were parts of this decision that I did not like," senior captain Paul Schned said. "However something did need to be done in the athletic department. And I can appreciate how difficult it must have been done to cut the swimming team." More than anything, the swimmers were initially worried that the administration would be stubborn with sticking to the original decision, even after presenting budget options. "I still feel the same way that the process they came to the original decision was flawed fundamentally," Fidel said. "The fact that they listened to us and were big enough to look at their decision and realize that maybe there was something they haven't considered - I don't have any bad blood." While Zee "will always know how it feels to be betrayed," she mentioned that she has learned the amount people can accomplish when they work together, and marvels at how far the news traveled. When Dartmouth Academic-Athletic Advisor Rob Morrissey was in Canada on a ski lift, he engaged the man sitting next to him in conversation. Upon hearing Morrissey's occupation, Zee reported that the man's response was "How could you guys cut your swim team?" Despite the news on Wednesday, the teams still had to swim a meet. Maybe it served as incentive. Maybe the training trip was showing early dividends. Middlebury is a Division III school, but the Dartmouth men set 14 pool records in the win and the women won 177-118. Maybe more reassuring than the wins, however, was the response when the team arrived home around 11 that night. Zee opened her email box to see over 120 congratulatory emails. Schned over 100. Not everybody who wrote them knew the intricacies of the sport of swimming. But every one supported the college athlete. Every one supported Dartmouth swimming.

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