Dr. Schmidt's first major administrative decision came as no surprise: to recommend to the Life Board of Trustees to drop the school's athletic program: basketball and track; soccer and rugby - and yes, ice hockey. The trustees approved the recommendation July 23.
"The budget needs to be cut," Dr. James Sigafoose told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "We're more interested in chiropractic than we are in sports or Christmas lights," referring to the school's annual Christmas display, which reportedly costs $350,000.
Clearly, Dr. Williams, a member of the Georgia Tech football team that won the 1951 Orange Bowl, took great pride over the years in building a highly competitive intercollegiate sports program. In 1997, a banner year for Life athletics, the university won national titles in basketball, ice hockey and track.4
Dr. Williams told the Constitution he was disappointed by what he deemed "such drastic steps." He called the decision "shortsighted," stating that those in charge now "don't realize the significance of these programs."
Some of the trustees, no doubt, had reservations about dealing a death blow to Dr. Williams' creation, but felt that the loss of revenue from declining enrollments warranted axing the $1.8 million tab that comes with competing in intercollegiate team sports.
Another possible cost-saving cut may be closing one of the university's three chiropractic clinics.
References
- Life University's Accreditation Denied. www.chiroweb.com/archives/20/15/09.html
- Dr. Sid Williams Steps Down. www.chiroweb.com/archives/20/16/15.html
- Michael Schmidt,DC, Named Interim Life President. www.chiroweb.com/archives/20/17/12.html
- That Championship Season. www.chiroweb.com/archives/15/09/06.html
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