NEWS: UC Riverside Considering Cuts to Entire Athletic Department

On September 4th, UC Riverside Athletic Director Tamica Jones announced that the university's Budget Advisory Committee has made recommendations for impending budget cuts. One of those recommendations included the elimination of the entire UC Riverside athletic department.

While acknowledging that these were only recommendations, Jones noted that UCR's athletic department is "committed to ensuring our future is sustainable for years to come."

The suggested axing of all UC Riverside athletics stems from the ongoing consequences of the Coronavirus pandemic according to an article from The Press-Enterprise. The article also notes that UC Riverside Chancellor Kim Wilcox has stated that "...decisions likely will be made in October, with cuts to be spread over two years."

The full story on the proposed cuts can be found here.

The men of UC Riverside's track and field team made some noise this past offseason as they added distance veterans Isaac Cortes (formerly of Stanford) and Spencer Dodds (formerly of Virginia) to their roster as graduate transfers during the summer months.

UC Riverside is also responsible for producing Brenda Martinez, one of the top American middle distance runners who earned a silver medal in the 800 meters at the 2013 World Championships.

A petition, which at the time of publication currently has nearly 11,000 signatures, has been started in an effort to gain support against the UCR Budget Advisory Committee's recommendation of eliminating the school's 15 sponsored sports.

Earlier this month, William & Mary announced that they would cutting seven varsity sponsored sports while Minnesota announced they would be cutting four sports. Men's indoor and outdoor track and field were among the cuts in both situations.