www.jsonline.com/sports/panthers/regent-questions-continuing-uwm-athletics-b99742346z1-382552441.htmlA Wisconsin regent on Friday accused the UW-Milwaukee athletics program of balancing an $11 million budget deficit "on the backs" of students, and questioned whether it was worth continuing athletics at the campus.
UW System regent Tim Higgins challenged UWM athletic director Amanda Braun after she presented an annual report on Panthers sports during a regents meeting on the school's campus. She had just introduced new basketball coach LaVall Jordan, who told the regents he was thrilled to represent the university and the city, and asked regents to "please come down to Panther arena to watch us."
Higgins made his statements in rapid fire.
"Your organization has an $11 million deficit. Your organization has for the second year in a row, as far as I can tell, balanced its budget to the extent that it is balanced on the backs of students of this university. Your organization admits that your men's basketball program is the academically lowest-ranked in the league in which you play. What's the justification for continuing this?"
Braun initially appeared taken aback and asked for clarification. "The justification to continuing athletics at UWM?"
"Yes," Higgins responded. "As a Division I program."
Braun said the program had made progress in balancing its budget and had a plan to eliminate the deficit. According to the annual report prepared for the regents, the plan calls for balancing the budget on an annual basis for multiple years.
"I think athletics at the Division I level is a worthwhile investment," Braun said.
The athletic department finished the year ending June 30, 2015, nearly $11 million in the red. The deficit began building around 2000 due to the rising overall costs of Division I athletics, according to the report.
UWM athletics are heavily subsidized by student fees; they made up more than two-thirds of the department's revenue in fiscal year 2015 and are projected to make up a little less than two-thirds of revenue in the upcoming fiscal year.
Braun said athletics also are part of the university's branding.
One hundred of the 115 universities around the country with the same top-tier research classification recently acquired by UWM have Division I athletics, she said.
"And I don't know that's cause-effect, but that's certainly a strong correlation about the elevation of a brand of a university," she said. "I believe strongly in student athletes being great student representatives on a campus and in a community, and the impact we can have on the university."
At Regent Gerald Whitburn's prodding, Braun added that her department faces no serious NCAA sanctions.
"We're riding really high on that," she said. "We have a fabulous staff right now who knows what the questions are and when to ask them, and are doing things the right way."
UWM's athletic department finished fiscal 2015 with a net balance of $604,400 and should finish 2016 about $107,284 to the good, according to Braun's report to the regents.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
