For Missouri Southern Athletic Director Sallie Beard, Thursday’s meeting with the members of the Lions men’s soccer team was one she would rather not have had.
“They were very emotional,” Beard said of the 19 soccer players affected by the decision, announced Thursday by Missouri Southern President Bruce Speck to eliminate a team that has been part of MSSU since 1976 as a cost cutting measure.
“There were tears, there was some anger, but they were very respectful of me and they listened,” Beard said. “I think they were hanging on every word and it was sad. More than anything it was just sad.”
Speck announced in an e-mailed press release that men’s soccer was one of a number of victims of the university’s tough budgetary dilemma.
Another program to get the axe was the Child Development Center, which provides day care and educational services to 30 children, mostly children of staff, faculty and students of the university.
Speck said the center will close in May. The soccer season is in the fall, so the team played its last games last year.
“The center is heavily subsidized by the University each year,” said Dr. Glenn Coltharp, Dean of the School of Education, the department which manages the center.
Coltharp said families who have children in the center were notified and provided ample time to find other services.
Dr. Terri Agee, senior vice president for business affairs, said the center received a subsidy of $81,000 this year. Historically, the subsidy for the center had been about $100,000 annually.
