President Simmons Postpones A Final Decision

Today, the Athletic Review Committee issued an addendum to its preliminary recommendations after discussions and feedback from current team members, students, parents, and alumni.  The addendum requests that the issue be postponed until Fall 2011 in order to allow students to focus on their final examinations.  Deliberations will continue until the committee's final recommendations are released in three weeks.  The issue will then be taken up at the October meeting of Brown's Corporation.

While this decision guarantees that the team will have a 2011-2012 season, our future is still in question!  So we need your help!  Please continue to write to the committee to let them know how much Brown Skiing means to you!  We also need donations!  Please go to Friends of Brown Skiing and pledge your support so that we can ensure the Brown Ski Team will be here for years to come!

Save Brown Skiing!

It is with the most unfortunate news that I write this blog post.  As many of you have learned over the past 48 hours, the Athletics Review Committee commissioned by President Ruth Simmons has released a report recommending that the Women's and Men's Ski Teams be cut along with 3 other varsity teams to make way for a 10% budget increase and the elevation of a women's club team to varsity status within the next year.  The committee's full recommendations can be found here:

http://www.brown.edu/web/athletics-review/

Our head coach Mike LeBlanc, current athletes, and alumni are in the process of writing to members of the committee, Ruth Simmons, and other University officials.  Next week, we will begin an appeals process with the hope of reversing these misguided recommendations.

Support our case on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179304362121026

Make a donation today so that the ski team will be here tomorrow and on into the future!

http://friendsofbrownskiing.com/

If you would like to get involved, please email John Van Slyke '00 at vanslyke@gmail.com, our coach Michael LeBlanc at ski@brown.edu, or the team at brownskiteam@gmail.com.  Donations to the Brown Sports Foundation specifically for the cause of preserving the Men's and Women's Ski Teams are also encouraged.  With your assistance, we hope to Save Brown Skiing!