Interim President George Hynd, in response to the “Save Winthrop Tennis” organization, wrote a letter addressing that the tennis teams will be eliminated on Tuesday.
“I am writing to confirm, with the full backing of the Board of Trustees, that Winthrop has no intention of reinstating the tennis program,” he wrote.
Winthrop’s Board of Trustees voted on the decision to eliminate Winthrop’s men and women tennis teams in June.
In response to this announcement, alumni, coaches and community members worked together to create the cause “Save Winthrop Tennis.” The organization was used to collect sponsors, funds and support from the Winthrop community to ensure the tennis teams were not eliminated.
“We have many challenges ahead and need to focus on making sure we have the resources necessary to meet the needs of our students in these most pressing times,” he also added that he understands the decision is disappointing due to the success of both tennis teams.
Hynd wrote that the “Save Winthrop Tennis” organization used information that lacked context or was misleading including the claim that the decision to eliminate the teams was due to budget concerns.
“Budget concerns are not an allegation; they are a continuing reality for all universities including Winthrop,” Hynd wrote.
He added that many universities across the United States are also following suit with eliminating their tennis teams, “and have cited many of the same reasons that informed Winthrop’s decision: conference requirements in considering program elimination, inadequate facilities for practice and play, limited tuition and other revenue, and substantial international recruiting costs.”
“The funds raised by the alumni and friends, mostly through pledges, have used Winthrop’s name without our permission to fundraise for a program that was eliminated because of its inherent and associated costs,” he wrote.
“The major gift of $500,000 that the group is touting was in the works to help address the state of Memorial Courts before this summer’s decision and had a university matching component that now is financially untenable. The group says they can get the courts fixed this fall for far less than our initial estimates, but they are unaware of state purchasing requirements and realistic timelines for capital projects of this nature.”
“I wanted you to have these facts so you can make informed decisions about how you choose to support Winthrop and/or the athletics department,” Hynd wrote. “We are all disappointed that the reality of our present circumstance has led us to this unfortunate conclusion.”
Julie Busha, a member of the “Save Winthrop Tennis” organization, wrote a letter in response to Hynd’s remarks on Wednesday.
Busha wrote that the organization understood the reasoning behind the elimination of the tennis teams but that they felt the teams were cut without enough notice.
“As such, we felt we deserved to have the opportunity to have our self-sustaining plan for reinstatement heard at some point, along with its accompanying fundraising efforts, which now sit at nearly $800,000,” she wrote.
“Our letter solicitations to prospective donors are, and have always been, fact driven, yet often include positive personal stories of how wonderful our Winthrop experience was for us personally,” she wrote, adding that donors pledges were only to be used if the teams were reinstated.
“We are very aware of state purchasing requirements and timelines as it pertains to the tennis court renovations. However, we wouldn’t have been able to put together a solid budget and proposal had we not gone out to obtain bids ourselves,” she wrote.
Busha added that the organization are not trying to meet with the board of trustees to take the focus off of the circumstance surrounding the pandemic but, “we do feel that our plan for reinstatement and timeline to occur in Fall, 2021 does directly provide solutions to Covid-related challenges, while bringing a net positive operating budget for tennis, beneficial national media, and long-term donors who will be valuable to the University beyond tennis.”
