In 2009, after almost 40 years of being a sport at Kutztown University, the AD met with head coach Tim Flannery to bluntly tell him the men's program was being cut, effective immediately. The "reason" was based on "[the] current economic situation" and as the result of an outside "funding study" on the intercollegiate athletic program, the then-director of athletics and the then-VP of Student Services and Campus Life recommended to the university president discontinuing the sports of men’s swimming and men’s soccer because cutting those sports presented "the right combination of financial savings, Title IX proportionality, and impact on the overall athletic program." No one should overlook the mention of "Title IX proportionality". It's ALL about Title IX, and "finances" and other cited reasons are just convenient and useful camouflage.

A change in school administration that saw the exit of all three university positions mentioned above in 2020, 2011, and 2014, respectively, saw the arrival of a new president (Dr. Kenneth Hawkinson) that fully supported athletics and an AD (Renee Hellert) that did her own number and data-crunching to examine the impact of dropping/restoring men's swimming. To that we say, HOORAY! Listen to Coach Flannery as he shares the inside story!

Press release on reinstatement of men's swimming program at Kutztown:

https://kubears.com/news/2022/12/12/mens-swimming-kutztown-university-to-add-mens-swimming-as-its-23rd-varsity-sport.aspx

Link to recruiting questionnaire for women's swimming here: https://questionnaires.armssoftware.com/58b54ddd3762

Link to recruiting questionnaire for men's swimming here: https://questionnaires.armssoftware.com/3268ccef36a0

Original story on dropping the men's program: https://www.swimcloud.com/news/2009/mar/31/kutztown-becomes-cuts-town-eliminates-swimming/

Story in Swimming World on reinstatement of men's program: https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/kutztown-university-to-reinstate-mens-swimming-in-2024-25/

Buy a copy of "EDDIE REESE: Coaching Swimming, Teaching Life" for yourself or as a gift HERE: www.eddiereesebook.com

MUSIC CREDITS

The Whip by Kevin MacLeod
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4515-the-whip
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

"There It Is" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Swim Talk A2B - Episode 38: Madison Yelle-SFTL

Swim Talk A2B with Dana Abbott and Bob ButtonBy Dana Abbott and Bob ButtonDec 23, 2023