Brown University Reinstates Men's Cross Country And Track And Field Teams

Dear Brown Community,

We have heard clearly from our community over the past couple of weeks that the University’s decision to transition men’s varsity track, field and cross country to club status will have real and lasting implications for efforts to build and sustain diverse and inclusive communities for our students at Brown, and particularly our community of black students and alumni.

Our students, alumni and parents took the time to share their deeply personal stories of the transformative impact that participation in track, field and cross country has had on their lives. Many noted that, through Brown’s history, these sports have been a point of entry to higher education for academically talented students who otherwise would not have had the opportunity, many of them students of color. In addition, we heard from members of the women’s track, field and cross country teams who made a compelling case that eliminating the men’s program would adversely impact the women’s program.

Considering these and other factors, the University has decided to reinstate the varsity status of men’s track, field and cross country at Brown. This change is effective immediately and does not alter other decisions to reduce the number of varsity sports as part of the Excellence in Brown Athletics Initiative.

As I wrote in my letter to the community on Saturday, the primary reason for eliminating men’s track, field and cross country was to help Brown remain in compliance with a 1998 settlement agreement stemming from a Title IX lawsuit. This was not the case for any of the other teams that were transitioned out of varsity status.

This settlement agreement, which pertains only to Brown and is unique in all of collegiate athletics, created tight constraints specific to Brown regarding the balance of varsity athletics opportunities for women relative to men. The University has achieved the required balance historically by maintaining squad sizes of men’s teams that, on average, are below Ivy League squad sizes. This has been an impediment to Brown achieving broad athletic excellence. At the same time, and as a result, Brown has a larger fraction of athletics opportunities for women than most of its peers.

The reinstatement of men’s track, field and cross country will have implications for the squad sizes of Brown’s varsity teams. However, we have determined that with some modifications, Brown will be able to remain in compliance with the requirements of the legal settlement and with Title IX for the time being. In the coming year, the University will examine alternative strategies for addressing the issues that arise from the settlement agreement.

Maintaining and strengthening diversity was a foundational principle in considering the final makeup of varsity teams from the outset of the Excellence in Brown Athletics Initiative. The original revised roster of varsity sports maintained Brown’s overall diversity in varsity athletics, but we now more fully appreciate the consequences of eliminating men’s track, field and cross country for black students in our community and among our extended community of black alumni.

As I shared this weekend, members of the Brown athletics community will receive invitations in the coming days to participate in virtual meetings to hear directly from Director of Athletics Jack Hayes and me about the decisions underlying the athletics initiative. We hope to address common questions being raised and ongoing areas of concern.

Again, I remain committed to the decision to reduce the number of varsity teams to increase the competitiveness of athletics at Brown. We will do so while providing equal opportunities to participate in athletics, regardless of sex, and remaining true to our values of supporting diversity and inclusion.

Sincerely,

Brown President Christina Paxson signature

Christina H. Paxson

President

Brown’s back baby!

https://www.thestridereport.com/post/breaking-brown-reinstates-men-s-cross-country-track

A success story. So many universities have cut track and xc though and won't be reinstating them. I hope we don't get to the point where one needs to get into an ivy or be all state in the top division to run in college.

This is great news. Great job by all the alums and supporters of the program (notably Russell Dinkins) who spoke up and rallied together to save the program. A big win for track & field today -- and hopefully a template to follow for other programs who may be facing the same issue at their school.

Wow this is great news.

Read the whole thing. Looks like the men will have pretty severe squad-size limitations.

That said, it's great that Brown's men will be at Heps!

morons can call this site right-wing or whatever but guaranteed letsrun's coverage of the issue was influential in this decision and thats a real world, impacting real lives, example of "social justice"

Not remarkable, given the time and the nature of the modern university president, that the only arguments that they found compelling in restoring the programs were that black student-athletes would be harmed and that women's student-athletes (women's track) would be harmed. They would indeed be harmed and that was part of the reason that this was bad. But it was also bad that the remaining male student-athletes were going to lose their program, yet the university cared not one whit about them.

I would add that everyone should thank Russell Dinkins for making the kind of compelling argument that the university president at this time would listen to.

zxcvzcxv wrote:

Not remarkable, given the time and the nature of the modern university president, that the only arguments that they found compelling in restoring the programs were that black student-athletes would be harmed and that women's student-athletes (women's track) would be harmed. They would indeed be harmed and that was part of the reason that this was bad. But it was also bad that the remaining male student-athletes were going to lose their program, yet the university cared not one whit about them.

I was thinking the same thing.

The take away: societal forces can harm white males and you can expect few will be upset enough to affect change.

We are in dark days.

zxcvzcxv wrote:

Not remarkable, given the time and the nature of the modern university president, that the only arguments that they found compelling in restoring the programs were that black student-athletes would be harmed and that women's student-athletes (women's track) would be harmed. They would indeed be harmed and that was part of the reason that this was bad. But it was also bad that the remaining male student-athletes were going to lose their program, yet the university cared not one whit about them.

I don't care what their reasoning is, I'm just happy they reinstated the teams.

krispy kremlin._._._._ wrote:

zxcvzcxv wrote:

Not remarkable, given the time and the nature of the modern university president, that the only arguments that they found compelling in restoring the programs were that black student-athletes would be harmed and that women's student-athletes (women's track) would be harmed. They would indeed be harmed and that was part of the reason that this was bad. But it was also bad that the remaining male student-athletes were going to lose their program, yet the university cared not one whit about them.

I was thinking the same thing.

The take away: societal forces can harm white males and you can expect few will be upset enough to affect change.

We are in dark days.

Would a young Galen Rupp even be allowed at attend college nowadays?

I also thought this when I saw the release. Indeed, minority representation is import at a school like Brown, but when they present it this way it definitely marginalizes all the male athletes at Brown who are not black.

But I won't lose any sleep over it. It is great Brown's athletes got their program back. All of the athletes on the team, regardless of race, benefit from this.

Glad to read of the programs reinstatement. As some have pointed out, the driving force for reinstating the teams was explicitly stated to be providing opportunities to minority students. It will be interesting to see what the coaches are asked to do in terms of providing those opportunities while balancing an impacted roster. Typically teams with serious roster limitations focus on XC and distance, but that is not the event group that generally attracts minority students at an institution like Brown.

On another note, I doubt this about face would have (or could have) happened at ANY other time than in the midst of the George Floyd fallout.

“It’s Back, Back, Back, Back....”

If i am not mistaken the original reason and only reason stated by the school was to result of an excellence of athletics initiative and nothing was stated as title ix.

Many/most figured it was a title ix decision more than anything else. It is just disappointing when the administration is not out front with the truth. AND while i think it is great that the program is now reinstated doesnt it show a level of incompetence in their original decision.

hgjvkvbbbhhhbb wrote:

God. The whiners got their way. Man I feel sorry for this generation. Tonedeaf and selfish

Trolloll

I'm going to by cynical here and posit this question:

If the recent events surrounding the death of George Floyd which led to protests across the globe had not occurred - would Brown University still have made this decision?

Jonathan Gault wrote:

This is great news. Great job by all the alums and supporters of the program (notably Russell Dinkins) who spoke up and rallied together to save the program. A big win for track & field today -- and hopefully a template to follow for other programs who may be facing the same issue at their school.

God you are freaking clueless. Absolutely clueless. You are a bad person. Do you realize people are dying, unemployed, in food lines, etc. African Americans are targeted by police. But all you can whine about is some privilege track athletes an ivy league school.

You have a platform, but use it to do the bidding of sexist white nationalists. You are disgrace to journalism. You have ZERO real world experience and you live in a bubble.