Quinnipiac Women's Rugby

Over the last few days, Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut has been under fire after eliminating their D1 women's rugby team to a varsity club team so they could make room for their mens distance track team. This has blown up in the media (rightfully so) where top athletes like Ilona Maher, an olympic bronze medalist for the US women's rugby team who came from the Quinnipiac women's rugby team, have spoken out against the university saying "Shame on you" and tagging the university in her post. The team has brought the school three national division 1 titles and yet the school is cutting their program to make room for yet another mens team who, as of now, has shown no promise of bringing home national titles. In addition to three titles, the Quinnipiac women's rugby team was the longest standing program that helped pave the way for other women rugby athletes. Aside from the sport itself, people are wondering if these women athletes who competed on the team at the division 1 level will still have any scholarships honored with the move. Since the move, a petition has already been made with over 14,000 signatures to reinstate the team back to its previous division 1 title. You can find the petition at https://www.change.org/p/reinstate-women-s-rugby-at-quinnipiac-university. The Quinnipiac women's rugby team was one of the least heavy costing sports team at the university only costing $128,000 per year. In comparison, I could not find an exact number but it was reported that the school spends "hundreds of thousands to over a million dollars" on the mens division 1 soccer team. 

I find this all very disheartening. The fact of the matter is, the school is shutting down a women's team to make room for another mens team. No matter how many division titles or olympic athletes a women's team can produce, they can still be replaced by a mens team with none of the same outputs.