Lindenwood University will eliminate 10 athletic programs at the end of the academic year less than two years after beginning the process to move to NCAA Division I from Division II.
The massive cuts include mostly sports that fall within the NCAA umbrella, including:
- men’s lacrosse,
- men’s swimming and diving,
- men’s tennis,
- men’s indoor track and field,
- men’s outdoor track and field,
- men’s wrestling,
- women’s field hockey,
- women’s gymnastics and
- women’s swimming and diving.
Men’s and women’s cycling, which are not NCAA sports, will also be cut.
The decisions were made “after a comprehensive evaluation,†according to a press release. The cuts will impact about 280 athletes.
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“Today, and for the near future, it will be challenging as the decision to better align our athletics department with our peers also results in many of our student-athletes learning that they will no longer be able to compete in the sport they love while at Lindenwood,†vice president for intercollegiate athletics Jason Coomer said in a statement.
Lindenwood has had one of the largest offerings of sports in the country for many years. It will continue to compete eight men’s sports and 12 women’s sports in NCAA competition.
The announcement was made on the university’s website under a headline that read: “Athletic department special announcement.†Coomer was not available for further comment.
The university posted a Q&A on its website, indicating that scholarships will be honored for students on a discontinued team as well as for incoming students who have signed a letter of intent for one of those teams. Donor support will not impact decisions on elimination of teams.
The university moved to NCAA Division II from NAIA in the 2013-14 school year. When the move to Division I was announced in February 2022, the university said it had used Collegiate Sports Associates to conduct an external study and internal financial analysis that demonstrated the move was a viable option.
Upon moving to D-I, the school had more than 1,400 students who participated in sports, including more than 700 in NCAA sports.
Teams that are not in NCAA-sanctioned sports are classified as “student life sports.†Lindenwood kept 13 SLS sports, including rugby, archery, shotgun sports, Olympic weightlifting and e-sports.
In April, the women’s gymnastics team won the USA Gymnastics women’s collegiate national championship.
The university is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference for many sports.
Lindenwood shut down its Belleville campus in 2020. Nearly 80% of the 1,100 students were playing sports with discounted tuition. At that time, some athletes made the move to the St. Charles campus to continue competing.