Newswise — Two specific sports programs at Bucknell University — men's wrestling and women's crew (along with other women's sports) — will be greatly bolstered, thanks to a $5.6-million private donation by William A. "Bill" Graham IV, chairman and chief executive officer of The Graham Company located in Philadelphia.
As a result of Graham's generosity, men's wrestling will be reinstated as a varsity sport while the novice component of the women's crew program will be enhanced. The donation, in the form of two equal distributions to support men's wrestling and a variety of women's athletics, is expected to provide an equal number of new varsity opportunities for Bucknell men and women over the next four years.
Primarily through endowments, the gift will underwrite all aspects of the wrestling budget, while women's crew will get new assistant coaches and increased program support. A new women's lacrosse and field hockey field was constructed with an early installment of the gift, and an endowment for women's athletics as a whole is being established.
The varsity status of the men's wrestling team will be restored in the winter of 2005-06; the expansion of women's crew will be effective in the spring of 2006. Including wrestling, Bucknell will now field 27 varsity teams, among the highest number in the nation.
"We are extremely pleased to accept Mr. Graham's generous donation," said Judge Susan Crawford, chairwoman of Bucknell's board of trustees. "This is the latest step in a long line of efforts to work within the mandates of Title IX for the betterment of the institution and student-athletes alike."
"Bucknell's decision to reclassify the men's wrestling team in 2001 was extremely difficult to make. This donation gives us the opportunity to reinstate the varsity program to provide our students the quality opportunities they deserve while complying with Title IX requirements," said John Hardt, Bucknell's director of athletics and recreation. "We hope that Bill Graham's leadership and financial support can serve as a model for other institutions seeking to improve their programs for both male and female students."
In 1962 Graham was co-captain of the Bucknell wrestling team and posted a 7-1 record in duel matches in his senior year, when the Bison went undefeated (9-0) and finished third in the Middle Atlantic Conference Championships. He has been a long-time supporter of the school's athletic programs. Today, his company, The Graham Company, is a leading provider of property and casualty products and surety bonds.
"I'm really excited to support athletics at Bucknell," said Graham. "I learned a lot during my four years there, and I am happy to be able to help future generations experience all that Bucknell has to offer, both academically and athletically."
The donation continues years of reshaping the Bucknell athletic program. In 1995, during Bucknell's initial NCAA Certification Review, it was found, like many other institutions, not to be conforming with several principles of Title IX, the federal statute prohibiting gender discrimination in education programs. The key principle holds that women must be represented among all varsity athletes to the same degree that they are represented among all students at the school.
In 1998, the university began a five-year Gender Equity Plan aimed at bringing its athletic program into compliance with Title IX, especially with respect to "proportionality." The plan comprised 42 initiatives, including several designed to establish male-female proportionality in varsity participation rates. Those steps included roster management, the addition of two women's sports in 1998-99, and the possible discontinuation of men's sports.
In 2001, to achieve "substantial proportionality" under Title IX guidelines, Bucknell chose to discontinue wrestling and men's crew as varsity sports, later reclassifying them as club-varsity, so that they would not draw any university funds. Last year, the athletics program reached full compliance, with men's and women's participation rates of 51 percent and 49 percent, respectively, which will be maintained with the effects of Graham's donation.
Primarily an undergraduate institution, Bucknell was founded in 1846 and is located in Lewisburg, in central Pennsylvania. It enrolls approximately 3,550 highly selected scholars (3,350 undergraduates and 200 graduate students), who have their choice of 53 majors and 64 minors taught by more than 290 full-time faculty members committed to teaching. For more information, visit www.bucknell.edu.
Bucknell is a member of the NCAA Division I Patriot League, which was founded in 1986 on the principles of maintaining presidential control of athletics and enrolling student-athletes who are academically representative of the student body at large. In 2003, Bucknell led the nation for the third time in the graduation rate of student-athletes, with a 100% performance. Bucknell ranks third among NCAA Division I programs in producing Academic All-Americans, and has won the Patriot League Presidents' Cup for all-sports performance ten times in 13 years.
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