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New Mexico to eliminate 4 sports to curb spending

By GLEN ROSALES, Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Four University of New Mexico sports are facing the chopping block - including the highly regarded men's soccer program - under a series of recommendations made late Wednesday by university president Garnett S. Stokes and athletic director Eddie Nuñez.
Beset by a fiscal problems brought on by years of running a budget deficit and an athletic program well shy of meeting federal Title IX requirements guaranteeing gender equity, New Mexico officials have been scrambling for solutions.
Stokes and Nunez are expected to present their recommendations to the Board of Regents during a special meeting Thursday.
"The University is faced with very difficult decisions and tough choices, but we must act now to ensure the long-term stability of Lobo athletics," Stokes said in a statement. "Regrettably, the recommendations do include a reduction in sports, the least desirable measure but one that will help alleviate our financial concerns and work towards putting us in compliance with federal law."
Men's soccer has perhaps the highest profile nationally and even internationally of Lobos men's sports, having twice reached the Final Four and once the championship game.
Men's and women's skiing, which compete for national championships as a coeducational squad, and the school's newest sport — beach volleyball — also face elimination.
The athletic department overspent its budget nine of the past 11 years, resulting in a deficit of nearly $5 million. It had been tasked with reducing its annual spending by nearly $2 million by 2020. UNM officials are predicting a recurring $2.3 million deficit in 2019.
The regents in April approved a plan calling for reducing the number of sports in order to help close the deficit and cut future expenses. With 22 sports, New Mexico supports the most programs in the Mountain West. The national average is 16 to 18.
A Title IX report issued in May by an independent firm shows that there are 317 men participating in sports compared with 247 women, resulting in inequity when considering the university's overall enrollment of full-time undergraduates.
The disparity is greater when viewed in terms of athletic scholarships. Men received $4.74 million in aid, or 62.6 percent, compared with $2.83 million, or 37.4 percent, for women.
Men's soccer coach Jeremy Fishbein had been quite vocal in support of the athletic department and his program, although he declined to comment Wednesday night. Fishbein warned in April that his program was one of the sports being seriously considered for elimination.
"No sports should be cut at UNM," Fishbein wrote at the time in an email. "With proper oversight and support, we can and should be great in everything we do! Give our new athletic director and president time to develop a plan without losing great young people who are future leaders locally, nationally and globally."
If the regents approve, the four sports would be discontinued as of July 1, 2019. University officials say they will honor the scholarships of the affected student athletes through their graduation.
The university is also recommending roster changes for men's cross country, men's indoor and outdoor track and the modification of the swimming and diving team to phase out diving.
"Our student athletes are talented, dedicated young men and women," Stokes said. "The recommendation to discontinue sports weighs heavily on me."