Pepperdine Announces Two Program Cuts
2/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | General
The total number of varsity teams that Pepperdine sponsors will be reduced from 16 to 14, with seven men’s squads and seven women’s teams.
“It is with great regret that we came to this conclusion,” Pepperdine Director of Athletics John Watson said. “The last thing that we want to do is to reduce opportunities for our students at Pepperdine, but the current economic realities dictate that budget cuts must be made. We reviewed each of the athletic programs that we offer, taking into account such things as conference membership, level of competition and financial impact to the institution, and this is what had to be done.”
Neither the women’s swimming and diving nor men’s track programs are part of Pepperdine’s primary conference affiliations, the West Coast Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The women’s swimming and diving program competes in the Pacific Collegiate Swimming & Diving Conference, an affiliation of NCAA and NAIA programs on the West Coast. Pepperdine’s men’s and women’s track teams (the women’s track team is not affected by this change) compete as independents.
“The coaches and student-athletes that have competed at Pepperdine in these sports deserve our thanks and will remain a treasured part of our history and tradition, and for those currently affected we will do whatever we can to ease their transition, whether they choose to remain at Pepperdine or transfer to another school that offers their sport,” Watson said.
Pepperdine has sponsored women’s swimming and diving since the mid-1980s. The Waves had a program-best finish of second place at the PCSC Championships on two occasions, and placed third at the 2009 event. Over the years, one swimmer and four divers achieved NCAA Championships qualifying marks.
Pepperdine will continue to honor the existing scholarship agreements with its swimmers and divers through the remainder of their eligibility, although the Department will endeavor to assist those that desire to transfer to other schools to continue their careers.
Men’s track had a successful history at Pepperdine from the 1930s to the early 1970s, but the program was disbanded when the University moved to
Runners currently in Pepperdine’s men’s program will still have the opportunity to continue to focus on cross country in the fall, though the Department will attempt to assist any student-athletes that wish to transfer to schools that sponsor track.
