‘Well Short’ of Funding Goal, Cal Poly Elects Not to Reinstate Swimming
Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong revealed in a letter Monday that the university is declining to reinstate its swimming and diving programs.
Armstrong praised the efforts of the program’s backers, but noted that “the fundraising effort has fallen well short of the goal to reinstate the program.” The university had set a revised deadline to raise $20 million by June, and while the team raised $7.5 million by mid-April, it has fallen short of that larger goal to fund the program. The Save Cal Poly Swim Dive Instagram account had advertised Sunday as the last day to donate to the goal.
The program was cut in March, the university citing, among other things, the changing post-House settlement landscape. A petition to save the program has collected more than 20,000 signatures and mobilized a robust national network of supporters.
The letter from Armstrong:
I appreciate the efforts of many to attempt to raise the permanent funds needed to reinstate the swimming and diving programs at Cal Poly. While I appreciate the significant annual support and revocable bequests that have been identified, the fundraising effort has fallen well short of the goal to reinstate the program. As a result, the university is unable to reinstate the swimming and diving programs.
The university made several changes in good faith throughout the effort, including implementing multiple extensions to the deadline dates and lowering the threshold of permanent funds for an endowment to the absolute minimum that would be required to realistically support the programs.
I know this is difficult news for participants and supporters of the programs, and we want to recognize and again express our appreciation for the work they have done. This is an unfortunate reality given the approved NCAA House settlement, state budget and the tenuous situation moving forward for both the state and the NCAA. I want to reiterate that the significant and unequitable changes in the NCAA and the House settlement (and new organizations resulting from this settlement) had an impact that weighed heavily in this decision.
-President Jeffrey D. Armstrong
