Storm Clouds Loom - College Swimming

Faced with a $5.8 billion budget deficit, Governor Tim Pawlenty has proposed $48 million in permanent cuts to Minnesota’s higher education budget just a year after $100 in unallotments. The trickle-down has left Minnesota State-Mankato looking to purge athletic expenditures by $225,000-$275,000, according to Director of Athletics Kevin Buisman. That reduction is in addition to a $500,000 cut from this year’s budget. At Saint Cloud State University, administrators were able to address previous cuts with cash reserves, but now those reserves are gone and SCSU’s coaches and administrators are looking to pare $500,000 from their budget. As SCSU President Earl H. Potter III explained “Athletics is going to have to make cuts to bring its budget into line with the revenues that it has.” The cuts, it appears, will not be applied equally throughout athletic departments. “While regrettable, the loss of some of our sports is inevitable,” explained MSU-Mankato’s Buismann, “especially in light of what is happening with the loss of other academic programs and positions at the University.”