More than 100 athletes, some of their parents and other supporters of the golf and tennis teams voiced concerns about the Athletics Department's announcement that it will cut the teams at a tearful Sunday meeting of the General Assembly, the Student Confederation's legislative branch.
The first to stand from among the seated crowd was the captain of the Men's Tennis team, Juan Jaysingh. He criticized the way the Athletics Department disclosed the decision to the teams involved. The teams, he said, were notified the morning of Feb. 23, mid-season, in the midst of midterms and with "transfer deadlines fast approaching."
His second point dealt with the "unprofessional" manner used to hand the decisions down.
"We were treated as if we did something wrong," he said. "Integrity and moral values are more important than money."
GA Speaker Richard Bradbury asked the crowd how many student-athletes plan to transfer as a result of this decision. Nearly every member of the teams affected who were present raised their hands.
Members of the Women's Swimming team said that when scholarships were cut from their own team last year, the department promised no other changes would be made in AU athletics for another three years.
Several women's tennis team members also stood up to speak, with parents and friends flanking them for support.
"We all love AU very much and we don't want to have to leave to pursue our dreams of playing intercollegiate tennis," said one member, after he said she could not believe the women's tennis team, which has a 3.5 average GPA, the highest of any AU athletic team, would be cut.
A second team member, who said she has a 4.0 GPA, then stood and said, crying, that her dreams had been "taken away."
"You don't know what to do, you don't know what to say," she said. "I love to play ... I've trained my whole life."
Other team members said the lack of warning as the most disturbing element in the announcement.
An AU student who is not an athlete said, to great applause, "I think that it's only fair that AU tennis and golf have the right to appeal the decision."
Merri Hollinger, mother of sophomore tennis player Merrisa Hollinger, said AU should consider students' satisfaction with the University's decision.
"I think the University needs to think about - where do their alumni come from?"
Another parent, Diana Frid whose son, Daniel Frid plays tennis, said the cut has ruined the college experience for some.
"To see [the team] being destroyed is heartbreaking," she said. "These children were told Thursday that their dream was shattered."
After many members of the crowd had spoken, including family members and students from other athletic teams, Student Confederation President Polson Kanneth, a senior in the School of Communications, suggested an open forum, tentatively set for this Wednesday evening. Time and place will be announced through the SC listserv e-mail.
AU President Benjamin Ladner, Athletic Director Joni Comstock, Vice President of Campus Life Gail Hanson and other members of the administration will be invited.
"We need to know what's going on and where we can go from here," Kanneth said.
Sophomore Greg Roman, Speaker Pro Tempore and representative of the School of International Service in the GA, said the administration should pay more attention to how students feel about this issue.
AU gets 81 percent of its money from students, while 19 percent is taken from endowments, he said.
"We are the students of American University, we give the money to run this place, why don't we have more say in what happens?" he said to the crowd as petitions to change the outcome of the issue began circulating.
"Make sure we have a unified voice, but also a diverse voice," said Roman, who continued to say that the more questions are asked, the more questions they'll have to answer.
"I can assure you they don't have all the answers," Roman concluded.
The assembly passed a Resolution of Strong Disapproval and Discontent that promised the SC would take action "to force a reconsideration of the ... decision [to cut the teams] by the American University Athletic Department."
The statement stated, "the Student Confederation will not cease until a fair and equitable resolution has been reached..."
It was passed by a unanimous vote and will be forwarded to Ladner, Comstock, and the Board of Trustees, said Joe Vidulich, a GA member organizing the assembly's reaction to the cuts.
The GA hasn't yet decided what actions it will take if the administration doesn't respond to the resolution, Vidulich said.
He said he made 22 phone calls in the past 48 hours to Ladner and Comstock and none were returned as of press time.
"I've never been involved in athletics but we're an AU family," Vidulich said. "A large chunk of [student athletes'] lives have been taken away over the course of an evening and we are upset. This is not the way to treat the people who pay 81 percent of the bills around here."
Ben Weltman, a sophomore member of the men's tennis team in the School of Public Affairs, said he was willing to start a dialogue with the administration.
"It's not that we want to leave ... we still love this school," he said. "They made a decision, we need to work it out ... we need to work with them."
-Eagle Staff Writer Mary Specht contributed to this story.
