The revived West
Chester University Golden Rams are about to kick off the 2004 season
that was supposed to never happen. A former athlete and former coach
has come back to lead the way and their first competition will take place
this weekend at Southern Connecticut University.
Towson University in Maryland has been evaluating
their gymnastics program with the goal of finding a way to eliminate
it. No official decision has been made yet, but a lot of rumors flying
around.
Our gymnasts continue to give good reason for our programs to stay alive
and thrive. Three out of the NCAA
Today's Top VIII student-athletes were gymnasts. The Top
VIII award honor eight outstanding senior student-athletes of the
preceding calendar year. The 2004 winners include - Theresa Kulikowski
(Utah), Kristin Sterner (Alabama) and Onnie Willis (UCLA).
Natalie Halbach of the University of North Caroline wins the Walter
Byers Postgraduate Scholarship, becoming the first gymnast to be
recognized with this elite honor.
Nov 20th, 2003
Several new and positive developments in the reinstatement of West Chester
University. An official search for two coaching positions has been
posted as the University has reactivated their website.
A federal judge has ruled that West Chester must
reinstate their Women's Gymnastics team. West Chester
cut their gymnastics team and men's lacrosse team last spring, while adding
a women's golf program. A lawsuit brought about by the team's parents
successfully proved that the school was in violation of Title IX.
Kristin Sterner
of the University of Alabama was recently recognized as a top 10 finalist
for the NCAA Woman
of the Year Award. Kristin is one of three State winners along
with Janess Grieco (University of Michigan) and Elizabeth Jillson (Oregon
State University)
2003 matches the highest total of gymnast
Post-Graduate Scholarship recipients with six. See
the list.
Sept 5th, 2003
Six of the nine team members of the eliminated gymnastics team have filed
a lawsuit against West Chester University for sex
discrimination under Title IX. The lawsuit was filed on Thursday
September 4th through the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice.
Ball State University has made a decision to drop three sports but
gymnastics will not be one of them. Great news that gymnastics will
remain at Ball State. Press
release.
June 11th, 2003
Last week we received news of the probable elimination of the Ball State
University gymnastics program. Please read
here and take some action to help us keep this program alive. - On-line
Petition -
Everything is quite at Westchester. Now that the OCR complaint has
been filed, the University will have to respond directly to them.
May 8th, 2003
Westchester University has announced the official elimination of their
women's gymnastics program. The fight starts here.
January 8th, 2003
Season begins! - Updates to this site may be few and far between during
the competitive season. Get out to watch a meet!
December 11th, 2002
SEMO 'evaluation' finally over. The
program stays!
November 7th, 2002
New Clubs formed at Angelo State University,
Williams College (MA) and UW-Madison
UMass Gymnastics Foundation financial plan
turned down by University Officials
SEMO Update - evaluation of program will be
handled by outside consultant
October 18th, 2002
Help us add a program at University
of Oregon - Log on and VOTE!
Shannon Bowles from the University
of Utah has been named as one of the 10 finalists for the
NCAA Woman of the Year Award - GO!
Please take a moment to read the 'Current Status of
Gymnastics' document as
produced by the FOG committee and targeted towards
collegiate athletic administrators.
The NCAA News' September 16th
edition published an editorial version of the 'Current Status of Gymnastics'.
SEMO's program is being evaluated
over the next two months. The FOG committee has
already been in touch with the administrators and the
evaluation committee at SEMO to provide them with
accurate facts and statistics that would aid in the
evaluation of their program.
Bill Sands, the current USECA
President has joined the FOG committee as a consultant to
the group. Bill is well-respected, well-known and
extremely knowledgeable when it comes to gymnastics in
the US and around the world. We are very excited to
have Bill Sands on board.