UC Berkeley faculty wants sports subsidies stopped

Faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, are crying foul about the millions of dollars in subsidies directed to the school's athletic department.

The campus Academic Senate on Thursday voted 91-68 in favor of a nonbinding resolution calling for an end to campus support of the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and requiring a plan for paying back loans already made.

Cal's football and men's basketball programs make money, but other sports don't. Even with $7.7 million in subsidies from the campus chancellor and student fees, the department ran up a deficit of $5.8 million for the fiscal year just ended and projects another deficit next year.

That has stirred criticism as deep state budget cuts have resulted in class cutbacks, faculty furloughs and student fee hikes.

"Action is imperative given the current budget crisis," said Alice Agogino, a mechanical engineering professor who supported the resolution.

Some spoke in favor of the athletics department, including recent graduate and former swim team member Natalie LaRochelle, who grew tearful as she talked about the difficulty deciding which programs to cut.

"Cutting athletic funding right now is not the answer, because intercollegiate athletics enriches the entire university by giving back in both cultural and material ways," she said.

Athletics Director Sandy Barbour acknowledged the deficits are a problem and said the money will be repaid.

Berkeley officials say the department generates about 89 percent of its budget through ticket sales, corporate sponsorships, television rights fees, fundraising and endowment income.

Although the resolution is symbolic, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau said after the meeting he will work on developing a plan to reduce costs and get the department on a self-supporting basis.

He said he could not give a timeline on when that might happen.

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On the Net: Berkeley faculty: http://academic-senate.berkeley.edu/index.html