Cleveland State University's Board of Trustees voted Thursday to cut three sports programs as the university continues to cut spending and reduce a deficit.
The university said ti would cut wrestling, women's softball and women's golf, while moving its esports team under the umbrella of CSU's college of engineering, away from the athletics department. The teams will be allowed to finish out the current season, and the university in a press release said any athletic-based scholarships will continue for student athletes who stay at CSU. The university, on its website, said 60 student athletes and seven coaches will be "affected" by the cuts.
“Over the past several years, one of our primary goals has been to restructure our financial model and to evaluate where our students are engaged academically, socially and competitively,” CSU President Laura Bloomberg said in the release. “As a result, our athletics department, like many other departments at CSU, has had to make difficult decisions regarding the programs we offer.”
The news came as a shock to Emily Campion, a senior at a high school in Minnesota, who had committed to coming to CSU and joining the softball team. The team — along with the women's golf and men's wrestling team — are all in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the highest level of college play in the U.S.
"I have to start reaching out to different schools and seeing where else has room for me," Campion said. " And it's pretty late in that process, so we'll see. But hopefully I can find somewhere else that will be just as competitive."
CSU has 15 remaining athletics teams, the release said.
“It is a tough day for Cleveland State Athletics,” Kelsie Gory Harkey, director of CSU Athletics, said in the release. “The student-athletes and coaches in the impacted programs have been an important part of the Cleveland State community, and the decision today is not a reflection of the commitment or passion they, our staff or our alumni have to our program.”
She added CSU will be doing everything it can to "assist and support the student-athletes in deciding what is best for them to meet their academic and athletic needs."
CSU has not yet responded to a request for comment on how much the cuts will save in the university's annual budget. The university had initially been contending with a $40 million budget deficit, officials said in spring 2024; that number had been cut down to just $10 million as of August, President Bloomberg told Cleveland.com.
The university cut 14 staff last year and 54 staff had taken buyouts as of August 2024 through an early retirement and separation incentive package; it's not clear if additional staff have taken buyouts since then.