Washington
The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) will reinstate its athletics program in the fall, thanks to a referendum vote by students to increase student athletic fees by $50.
The announcement was made by UDC Board of Trustee's Chair Michele V. Hagans during the university's twentieth annual commencement ceremony on May 24, which featured approximately 950 graduates.
"Our financial crisis forced us to eliminate our intercollegiate athletic program," Hagans told the audience gathered on the campus's Dennard Plaza for commencement. "Our student leaders, however, said they wanted to find a way to fund this program themselves.... Therefore, the Firebirds will rise again from the ashes next season."
Meanwhile as the struggle to preserve and reconfigure UDC continues, a group of Howard University professors and local members of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) have joined the ranks of those advocating for shared governance at the District of Columbia's only public four-year university.
Under the new plan to restore athletics, which was developed by an ad hoc committee of faculty and students, athletic fees will be raised from their current level of $25 per semester to $75. If the campus is able to reach a student enrollment of at least 6,000 per semester and 3,000 during the summer, the new fee schedule would generate in excess of $1.1 million for the athletics program, said interim UDC President Julius F. Nimmons Jr.
The university plans to fully reinstate its sports program, offering competitive teams in men's and women's basketball, tennis, and track and field; men's soccer; and women's volleyball. It also will support cheerleaders and make the campus swimming facilities available to all students.
Attracting students continues to be one of UDC's biggest challenges. This spring, amid a flood of bad press about the institution's financial difficulties, rumors about its possible closure, and the dismissal of nearly one third of its faculty and administrative staff, enrollment dipped to a low of 5,917. The academic year had begun with a fall enrollment of 7,684.
