Mounting Pressure Included Argument That It Would Have Eliminated Some Accessbility To Students Of Color

By Theresa Juva Brown for DyeStat

Facing mounting pressure and growing cries to keep athletic opportunities for black men, Brown University has reinstated its men’s cross country and track and field teams, president Christina Paxson announced late Tuesday in a letter.

Just two weeks after her initial decision to cut the programs, Paxson said “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.”

Sprinter Kevin Boyce, who is black and was involved in the push to restore the programs, was elated to hear Tuesday’s news. 

“I am not surprised that they changed their minds, though I will openly admit the change happened sooner than expected,” said Boyce, a 400-meter runner who will get to compete his senior year after all.

“But I am thankful for a university that can recognize quickly when they are wrong and make amends for their mistake.”

On May 28, Paxson announced a massive shakeup of the athletic department that included reducing the number of varsity sports from 38 to 29, including the men’s track and field and cross country programs, which would have been demoted to club sports, along with men's and women’s fencing, men’s and women’s golf, women’s skiing, men's and women’s squash and women’s equestrian. Under the initial plan, men’s and women’s sailing would gain varsity status. The overhaul, Paxson said, “has the goals of improving the competitiveness of our varsity athletics (in the Ivy League), enhancing the strength of our club sports, and upholding our commitment to provide equal opportunities in athletics for women and men at Brown.”

But the news — which came right as nationwide demonstrations to end anti-black racism and police brutality gained power —  quickly sparked outrage, rallying Brown alumni and current athletes to form Save Brown Track, an online movement that drew thousands of supporters from all over, including Russell Dinkins, a former Princeton runner who wrote a scathing essay titled, 'Brown University, If You Were Actually Serious About Racial Justice You Would Not Be Cutting the Men’s Track Team.'

Supporters of the team argued that Brown would lose roughly 25 percent of its black male varsity athletes by cutting the men’s cross country and track and field programs. They also said it would make Brown less appealing to students of color in the future, noting that track is one of the most accessible athletic options for disadvantaged young people. Earlier this week, several alumnae of the women’s team spoke out, arguing that because the men’s and women’s programs essentially operate as one unit, the women would lose coaches, resources and support from the cut.

In her letter Tuesday, Paxson reiterated “that 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,” which requires Brown to provide athletic opportunities based on the percentage of women that make up the student population. 

Although the men’s cross country and track and field teams have been restored, Paxson says it “will have implications for the squad sizes of Brown’s varsity teams,” and she still aims to reduce the number of overall varsity programs at the school. 

LIST OF COLLEGE SPORTS PROGRAMS CUT IN 2020