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This letter comes to SwimSwam from Carolyn Bingham, the mother of girls’ swim team captain Jackie Bingham. Mrs. Bingham says that while swimmers have been put under a ‘gag order’ under threat of suspension (the moratorium on the media after we published a report about their proposal has been confirmed to SwimSwam by Lock Haven’s athletics department, who have also refused an interview request on the subject), that she is not bound by the gag order and wants to speak out on the proposal to cut the swimming program.
To Dr. Michael Fiorentino, president of Lock Haven University: It was quite disappointing to hear what comments you made to the town newspaper, The Express, in stating the athletes have not made any noise about your proposal to eliminate both the swim team and the track team starting in the 2018 season.
Did you explain to The Express that the athletes were made to sign a gag order not to notify the news media or press on the team’s elimination?
Did you also explain that even though you made the team sign the gag order they still quietly conducted a sit-in to protest your proposal while a school board meeting was being conducted? The athletes conducted themselves very professionally during their protest, even through the sneakiness by which you and your staff have conducted yourselves during this entire process.
The swim and track teams have made many positive contributions to the City of Lock Haven, which helps encourage future athletes to come to the school.
The team athletes have brought dignity, integrity, devotion and diversity and are proud of who they are, the Lock Haven Eagles. The yearly event that the town holds depends on the students to volunteer as well as contribute to the local needs.
You need to review all the studies that will plunge your university with the changes that you are making! To be an athlete of any sport at any university requires a passion and devotion that is not taught but is within you. Have you played a sport at a college or university?
We realize that school enrollment is down across the state and that the State of Pennsylvania is looking to merge some of the state schools together to reduce cost. I hope, as you were putting your plan together, that you looked at the number of students your proposal was affecting versus the maintenance cost, equipment cost and transportation fees needed to support the larger athletic teams that have a poorer win record than the track or swim team.
What expertise do you have to evaluate the elimination of a sport that does not have any expense to continue, given that the water that must remain in the pool? The swimming account that can be budgeted for at least another five years.
The impact that this decision will have on future students at LHU and on the townspeople?
Did I mention all my clients that I have for promoting LHU to future students? I am the owner of BAMM Swimming, which is a development swim school for children ranging from infant to adults who are training for triathlons. I have also managed two aquatic facilities in two different school districts for the last 14 years under IM Pool Management. In addition, I teach American Red Cross certifications at a trainer level with additional certification through The United Water Fitness Association. I have done some consulting work for HOC in Hockessin, Del., and the United Training Center in Downingtown, Pa.
I am very aware of what it takes to have an aquatic facility at your university.
I would hope that you would come back with some answers and, if possible, I would like the opportunity to review your budget with a meeting to consult on the matter to give some professional aquatic review.
Also, to state Rep. Mike Hanna, as one of our state representatives, we are reaching out to you to investigate the possible elimination of the Lock Haven University women’s swim team. On Wednesday, Jan. 25, we received word that the university had made the proposal to eliminate the women’s swim team after the 2016-2017 PSAC Championships.
This season, the team was also denied winter training in Florida when most of the sports teams from LHU travel to Florida during the winter for off-season training.
However, the women’s swim team was denied their winter training even though the team had money in the account to cover the cost.
The swim team approached the school president multiple times to discuss the school’s actions to cancel the women’s winter training in which they were denied a chance to meet the listen to the school explanation for the cancellation. Even though a formal announcement has not been made by the school, we are reaching out to you to investigate and possibly persuade them to not eliminate the women’s swim team at LHU.
Our daughter, Jacquelyn Bingham, a junior at LHU, is currently the captain of the team, and she has worked hard over the past three years to help build this team to a platform like no other in the history of the school as well as achieve the CSCAA Team All-American Honors.
The commitment and the devotion she has to her studies in addition to balancing a sport at such an athletic level is a value that cannot be given but must be earned. So if the team is dissolved, what happens to the more than a quarter million dollars raised for the specific allocations to the swim team?
What happens to the many students that would have come to the university with athletic options and decided not to come or decided to leave after their freshman year?
What happens to a town that has a university president that is continuing to make poor judgment calls that could trickle down to the townspeople?
Our daughters chose LHU based on the education and swimming being first and geographic and economics being second.
This year alone, the university enrollment has dropped 8.4 percent and should be an indicator that something is not going right with the overall management of the university.
We request that you fully evaluate the Title 9 specific rules that seem to be broken if the women’s swim team is dissolved. You may contact us by phone for future discussion per our request.
UPDATE: Rep. Hanna did respond to me in a letter dated Feb. 9. In that letter, Rep. Hanna said the following: I would like to … thank you for reaching out to me concerning recent rumors involving Lock Haven University athletics, particularly those involving the men’s and women’s track and the women’s swim teams. As a state representative and alum of LHU, I appreciate you bringing this issue to my attention. First off, let me commend you on the advocacy thus far in support of swimming/track and field.
I have already heard from numerous LHU alums, students, student-athletes, parents and athletes from other state system universities.
The good news is I have been told by the president’s office that no final decision has been made, so there is still time for supporters of these teams to provide input to LHU.
Please know that I am a wholehearted supporter of LHU athletics. I have many family and friends affiliated with LHU’s teams and I know full well the benefits our athletic programs bring to student-athletes, the campus and community at large. With that being said, however, I regret to inform you that there is little I can do in my official capacities.
Neither the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) board of governors, nor the Pennsylvania General Assembly have any say in how individual universities manage their athletics. In the end, it will be LHU’s decision alone whether any athletic team is discontinued.
Nevertheless, I encourage you to continue advocating for these teams to the university.
Supporters should be reaching out to President Fiorentino, the university’s Council of Trustees, the Alumni Association, and the University Foundation, among others.
The goal should be to show LHU leaders that more money will be lost by cutting these programs compared to keeping them. If there is a particular dollar amount needed to continue operations, then it is my hope that LHU donors and community businesses can be found to match that amount.
Large donations might be possible through naming opportunities; for example, the LHU Foundation lists on its website that the pool and its timing system have yet to be named. For men’s track, the cross country course name is available.
Also, small donations could be obtained from sites such as www.GoFundMe.com.
Lock Haven University has had a trying time. We have experienced the largest percentage drop in enrollment of all PASSHE schools this year and expenses continue to grow. However, I am confident that the argument can be made that losing students and recruits by cutting these programs will not be beneficial to LHU overall despite any cost savings.