The WSU Board of Regents yesterday voted 8-1 to grant WSU Athletics $20 million in university operating funds to help fill a projected budget shortfall.
“This action reflects the Board’s recognition that a strong Athletics program is one of the main drivers of student recruitment, retention, and institutional pride,” President Betsy Cantwell said in a message to WSU staff and faculty. “It strengthens WSU’s visibility, affinity and reputation while fully supporting — and in no way detracting from — WSU’s core
academic and research mission.”
“We have an amazing moment in FY27 to approach the new Pac-12 with a winning mindset, a winning team, a new team, and I think of this not as a cliff, but as a moment to invest and to bet on athletics,” Board Chair Jenette Ramos said.
And that’s the gist—this is a $20 million bet, banking on WSU Athletics to do its job as a marketing tool for the university. Athletic departments aren’t marketing departments by nature, but they sure as heck act as one. The two best examples of athletic programs improving a university’s overall standing and improving enrollment, research and all the cool things universities should bring to a community are up the road at Gonzaga and down south at the University of Alabama.
But those schools leveled up over multiple years of sustained athletic success, whether it was (and still is) the Gonzaga basketball program and the Alabama football program. The $20 million coming to WSU Athletics is great for the athletic department, but it’s a high risk investment that largely depends on WSU’s athletic programs sustaining success.
So, no pressure, coaches. Especially you, Kirby Moore.
Sending $20 million from the university to athletics will not go over well on the academic side of things. Expect faculty to raise the issue, and get ready for opinion pieces and think pieces and other statements bemoaning this move—and that viewpoint is entirely valid. If my governing board diverted $20 million away from what I felt was the true mission of a university, I’d be pretty upset, too. Plus, the university has already consolidated some programs for budget reasons.
On the other hand, if I’m WSU Athletics, I’d be feeling abandoned if the Regents didn’t bet on us. This is a crucial year for WSU Athletics: A new football coach and the rebuilt Pac-12 are opportunities—as Ramos, the board chair, said—to strike while the iron may be hot. Nobody can deny the effect successful athletic programs have on universities, so long as the schools use that success smartly.
You will likely hear faculty lament athletics’ historic budget issues and this move will be characterized as a bailout. Also valid!
So if you’re one of those types who has to see everything as either AMAZING! or TERRIBLE!, I’m sorry to say that there are legitimate feelings on both sides. It’s certainly not an ideal situation, but it’s reality.
It seems Cantwell and the Regents are playing the long game here, which is the better option. Although this is a one-year bet, Cantwell is well aware of the university’s challenges. Check out the enrollment decline since 2019:
That’s a loss of more than 6,000 students since 2019, or a 19% decrease. Anybody who works or owns a business knows if you lose almost 20% of your customers, you’re in trouble. WSU’s enrollment decline has contributed to massive budget issues.
Oh, and did I mention the Regents have raised tuition ten times since 2016-17?
Athletics can spur enrollment. It’s not the only thing that spurs enrollment, and WSU knows it has to do better on the traditional recruitment side of things (I’d also suggest all universities sit down and figure out their role in today’s society, but that’s for another day). But $20 million is a massive bet. Could that money have been invested in WSU’s admissions and recruitment efforts? Time will tell.
This bet could end up being a defining moment of Cantwell’s tenure.
