Men’s track is back at Brown.
Twelve days after cutting men’s track and field and cross country and receiving a torrent of criticism, Brown restored varsity status to the university’s runners and jumpers.
President Christina H. Paxson announced the shift in a letter to the Brown community Tuesday.
On May 28 Brown cut 11 varsity sports and promoted co-ed sailing and women’s sailing to varsity in an effort to enhance Brown’s competitiveness in the Ivy League.
Paxson said students, parents and alumni shared “their deeply personal stories of the transformative impact that participation in track, field and cross country has had on their lives.” She noted that female track athletes said that eliminating the men’s program would have an adverse impact on theirs.
Paxson also recognized the racial climate in the United States in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. About 30 percent of the men’s track athletes are black.
The reversal is effective immediately. The decision on the other sports remains.
Paxson acknowledged that dropping men’s track and cross country was an attempt to satisfy Title IX proportionality and that administrators will look for other means to satisfy Title IX requirements.
