Dec 05, 2000
Freshman football player Tim Lang holds a candle at a
rally organized by his team.Photo by Claire Weiss, The Phoenix |
The much-anticipated Jan. 4 meeting by the Swarthmore Board of
Managers resulted in the same decision – football, badminton
and wrestling will be dropped at Swarthmore College.
After 120 seasons, Swarthmore football is no more.
Swarthmore College's Board of Managers
announced Dec. 2 the school was dropping football effective
immediately, following the program's best season since 1995. The
Garnet went 4-5 in 2000 after going 1-8 in 1999 and winless the
three previous seasons. Head coach Pete
Alvanos talked with Pat Cummings about the decision on our
Stagg Bowl halftime show.
"There is a feeling on the part of the board that only 15% of the student body should be athletes," team captain Scott Murray told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Alvanos, who recently completed his third season as head coach, said, "at Princeton, for example, 17% of the freshman class is recruited athletes.
"There is a feeling on the part of the board that only 15% of the student body should be athletes," team captain Scott Murray told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Alvanos, who recently completed his third season as head coach, said, "at Princeton, for example, 17% of the freshman class is recruited athletes.
| Swarthmore's
lasts Game: at Washington & Lee, Nov. 11, W 16-6 Play: took a knee to end game Rush: Ken Clark 3-yard run, 1:06 left Interception: Donovan Godley, 1:13 left Tackle: Kevin Perry, 1:20 left Score: Robert Castellucci 23-yard FG, 5:02 Touchdown: Clark 2-yard run, 12:01 |
"It hurts, real bad," Alvanos told students at a rally the night of the decision. "You uproot your family, your wife and three kids, and assistant coaches uproot their wives and kids, and you look freshmen and high school seniors in the eyes and tell them that the college is behind you, that there's 100% commitment to turn the program around and do the things the right way. And we've done that, everything that (college president) Al Bloom has asked us to do."
The move reduces the Centennial Conference to seven football-playing schools, but leaves the conference eligible for an automatic bid. Swarthmore had played longtime rival Washington & Lee and Oberlin in non-conference action. It also reduces the chances Division III could get to 29 playoff teams for the 2001 season.