Penn State Funding
While the UDA finals were quite some time ago, with the recent discussion about sports, I feel as though this is still relevant. This past year, Penn State had cut its dance teams annual budget of $70,000. Since the NCAA does not recognize dance as an official sport, they do not receive any other funding from the school besides that money. I find it mind blowing that Penn State would cut $70,000 from a team that shows up to countless campus wide events, as well as positively representing the university at the national UDA competition. The dance team put in just as much practice time and effort as any of the other recognized sports, year round may I add.
Also, the university is in the midst of renovating their football stadium. This project cost about $700 million. Like I mentioned before, the dance team goes to many events on campus but one of their most notable is performing at half time at these football games. I think this situation is a perfect example of how mistreated women are in sports, especially sports that have been stereotyped to be a woman's sport.
Penn State doesn't need to renovate their stadium, they need to focus on recruitment and staff. $700 million dedicated to a stadium for winterization when they already have an indoor facility seems egregious. Dance has been around for thousands of years, predating football, and Penn State's decision to cut the budget is a slap to the face for this art. You made a big point regarding how the dance team literally performs at their halftime shows, which also contributes more entertainment and attention to the team.
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