Pepperdine Sports Fall on Hard Times

• School Drops One Sports Program and Gives Another Program a Reprieve

BY BILL KOENEKER

The nation’s financial meltdown has hit Pepperdine University, according to school administrators, who first announced during spring break that one athletic program will be cut after the current season and that all major areas of the university are expected to reallocate 10 percent of their budget back to the school.
Then, this week, Pepperdine announced that one of the programs, the women's swimming and diving team would compete for one more season, but will be disbanded following the 2009-10 school year.
Longtime Malibuite and swim coach Nick Rodionoff said he was shocked by the initial announcement. “Wednesday we had a staff meeting and they told us how well we were doing. Then on Friday they told us the team was being terminated effective immediately,” he said.
Rodionoff said the students were told via email while they were off campus because of spring break. “It was truly a disaster. We are calling it Black Friday, also because of the other announcements that were made,” he said.
The university’s department of athletics had originally agreed but decided to drop both women’s swimming and diving and men’s track following the 2008-09 school year.
The one-year extension had to do with what school officials call outside assistance, covering the women’s program for another year.
Rodionoff thinks it had something to do with the immense amount of support in emails and calls that deluged the school.
School officials in a press release talked about the difficult economic times reaching the campus. “The last thing that we want to do is reduce opportunities for our students at Pepperdine, but the current economic realities dictate that budget cuts must be made. We reviewed each of the athletic programs that we offer, taking into account such things as conference membership, level of competition and financial impact to the institution, and this is what had to be done,” said Pepperdine Director of Athletics John Watson.
However, later when university officials had reconsidered, Watson said, “Allowing the swimming and diving program to continue for one season will allow those returning, particularly our seniors, to properly conclude their athletic experience at Pepperdine, hopefully with a strong finish and new school records.”
Rodionoff said by Monday morning, after a flood of inquiries, administrators relented. “They decided to give us one more year and do right by the kids. That was huge. Now we have a year to regroup,” he added.
Ultimately, the total number of varsity teams that Pepperdine sponsors will be reduced from 16 to 14, with seven men’s squads and seven women’s teams.
Rodionoff said there was even talk among some parents about trying for funding outside the school’s circle. “I want to thank all for the support we got,” added Rodionoff, acknowledging he would be out of job if the termination of the team is carried out. “There may still be a way to carry on,” he said.
However, Watson in the school’s press release, seemed to send out a warning about such thinking. “I also do not want to build false hopes. There is no university funding available to continue the program beyond the 2009-10 academic year.
Pepperdine’s women’s swimming and diving program has been sponsored by the school since the mid-1980s.
School officials indicate they will continue to honor the existing scholarship agreements with its swimmers and divers through the remainder of their eligibility. There are 31 members on the team. Rodionoff said half of the team is on the honor roll.
The men’s track team consists of ten members and was first sponsored by the school in the 1930s. The program was disbanded when the university moved to Malibu in 1972. The program was reinstated for the 2008 spring season as an extension of the men’s cross-country program.
The entire process has left Rodionoff still bewildered. “What I was told was that all departments had to cut 10 percent. I didn’t know that meant cut one program 100 percent. I had no idea,” he said.
Interestingly, given all the brouhaha about the Malibu High School football program, Pepperdine is a non-Bowl Championship Series school, and never wanted a football team.