“You’re cutting into our hearts,” this was the gut-wrenching statement from senior men’s track member Zach Kohler at Thursday’s Student Senate meeting.
Before the start of the meeting, both the men and women’s track teams filed into the Student Memorial Center atrium in two rows of solemn faces. This wasn’t just another Student Senate meeting.
This meeting was a taste of what Millersville represents. Marauders stepped up to support one another in time of hurt, need and despair.
The men’s team is hurting and they were bombarded with the support of representatives from the rugby, wrestling and lacrosse teams. But it doesn’t stop there; parents, alumni, coaches and current students stood up and took the mic to show support. Kohler described the team as a family; a family that will never be the same.
Recently, it was made public that Millersville University can no longer support 22 intercollegiate teams. By July 1st, the University will only carry 19 teams.
Who didn’t make the cut? The men’s indoor and outdoor track and field and men’s cross country teams are in the works to be taken away. But it’s not just a sport that the university is taking away from these young men. These men are losing friendship, livelihood, a future and a legacy.
Perhaps one of the most compelling testimonies came from Mitch Miller, compelling because Miller is a rival runner from Lock Haven University. But tonight, he put aside that rivalry to say he was shocked to hear this devastating news. He has run against these men enough times to know the kind of people they are.
“This program doesn’t just build athletes,” Miller announced to a teary-eyed crowd. “It builds character.”
The character of these men was evident when Miller described how Millersville was the only other team to join Lock Haven on the 100 mile run to Harrisburg in protest to the proposed budget cuts last spring. Is it irony or is it cruelty that the same team is a victim of the very budget cuts it protested?
“All the effort we’ve put forth has meant nothing,” senior Michael Parker said.
One brave speaker brought up the point that the men’s cross country team is the only Millersville team to win a national championship.
But now what? The team and its representatives gave their comments and concerns to the Senate, the only group of people who claim they’re here to help. Is the reflecting the only thing left to do?
“There wasn’t a single time that I’m more proud of when I think of the time I spent with the track and field team,” Matt Rogers, a 2009 Millersville graduate said.
But it isn’t over for some, if not all, team members, who put up Facebook statuses like “The Millersville men’s track/xc is not going down without a fight.” There’s also a petition to save the teams, which can be viewed and signed here.
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www.millersvilleathletics.com