Bryn Athyn College in Pennsylvania is scrapping its 11 NCAA sports teams and its hockey team to cut costs in a bombshell move that has sparked outrage among students.
A letter from the private Christian school’s president, Sean Connelly, was sent on Wednesday announcing the ‘difficult but essential’ move to cut costs. Connelly says the school, founded in 1877, has an operating deficit of $48.7million.
‘This decision is a necessary step for our survival. To ensure this institution, rooted in a distinctive vision almost 150 years old, can thrive for the next 150 years,’ Connelly said.
But for the athletes that involved in the schools sporting teams, the consequences of the decision are massive.
Speaking to CBS, soccer and lacrosse sophomore Sean Scalen said: ‘We had no idea this was going to happen.
‘It’s looking like I am going to have to transfer to a place I don’t even know. I’m going to have to start all over.’
Bryn Athyn College in Pennsylvania has said it is scrapping its 11 NCAA sports teams
Another athlete, Connor Walmsley, was quoted as saying: ‘You really notice it with a small school because everyone is always coming out to everyone’s games.
‘It’s a close-knit community between the athletes here, and it’s tough that they’re just ripping that right away.’
Connelly’s letter explained that 29 people will be losing their jobs and the school will also outsource its IT operations.
‘Sometimes, change is the only path to survival. And survival, when aligned with vision, can give way to renewal,’ Connelly wrote.
‘We’ve trimmed back not to retreat, but to give our roots room to breathe —and from that resilience, new growth will come.’
