UMass Dartmouth Reverses Decision to Eliminate Some Varsity Sports

Last summer, UMass Dartmouth made the difficult decision to eliminate eight of the university's 25 intercollegiate athletic programs, including women’s equestrian, men’s golf, men’s lacrosse, co-ed sailing, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and men’s and women’s tennis.

According to UMass Dartmouth, the decision to eliminate these sports was based on outside reviews of the sports programs, analyzing things like available resources, gender equity, enrollment, and facilities. The goal of paring back the programs was to formulate a long-term strategic plan for athletic competition at UMD.

As of today, however, the university has decided to reverse their decision on at least some of those terminated programs.

While several changes in varsity athletic programs are still expected in the near future, the university announced today that they will be reinstating women’s tennis and women’s swimming and diving as varsity intercollegiate programs, effective immediately. The reinstatement is part of an overall strategy to better align the sports that UMass Dartmouth offers to the interests of the female population of the school's undergrads. 

“We will move quickly over the next week to meet with student-athletes and staff to ensure our intent is clear. Our commitment to enhance the quality and increase the number participating in our tennis and swimming/diving programs is a priority,” said Athletic Director Amanda Van Voorhis.

A search for coaches is underway. Vice Chancellor for Administration & Finance David Gingerella pledged a commitment from the school to fund the necessary resources to both of the returning Corsair programs. Competition is set to be scheduled as early as this fall.