Collegian: Hillsdale Belongs in DIII, Sayers: DII is Best

So, What's your take? On January 27, the Hillsdale Collegian editorial staff reacted to the elimination of 2 Hillsdale sports with an editorial calling for the Charger Athletic Dpt. to move down from Division II to Division III. Two weeks later, Collegian columnist Tim Sayers fired back arguing the Hillsdale should remain a Division II school.

Read both perspectives here and then give us your thoughts.

"Collegian Weekly" Hillsdale Collegian January 27, 2005:
Last week the college chopped off two more sports programs. The men's golf and women's tennis teams were amputated from the athletic department, ostensibly to redirect the vital flow of money toward sports with a better chance to succeed.

In his press release, Athletic Director Mike Kovalchik emphasized the word “discontinued” to describe these cuts, as he did two years ago when four sports met the same fate.

At that point, he spoke of bringing the teams back as quickly as possible, but two years have passed since then and today two more sports are gone.

The administration says it wants to strengthen and improve the athletic department. Chopping off two teams and redistributing their meager budgets, however, isn't going to make a major change in the overall success of Charger Sports.

Hillsdale is simply too small and too poor to maintain a healthy and consistently successful Division II athletic program. Even the smaller colleges in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference have student bodies two to three times the size of Hillsdale's. Full Column

"Sayers on the Sidelines" Hillsdale Collegian February 18, 2005:
Two weeks ago, after the men's golf team and the women's tennis team were cut an article was printed in the Collegian arguing that Hillsdale should change from a Division II school to a Division III. However, one member of the Collegian staff did not agree with what was in the article: me.

First, the article questioned Hillsdale College's ability to sustain its level of play for years because of its size. Yes, Hillsdale is much smaller than Grand Valley or Wayne State, but Hillsdale's ability to be competitive against schools that are 20 times larger than we are is a credit to our coaches, athletes and the school itself. Already this year, the men's cross country team finished eighth in the nation, the men's and women's basketball teams are ranked in the top three of the GLIAC South Division, and our volleyball team made it deep into the conference tournament. For a school with fewer students than my high school, I would say that is a pretty successful year.

Now, will Hillsdale be able to continue this high level of competition? I believe they will. Because of these impressive seasons, teams should be able to bring in better recruiting classes and improve their level of play even more, making them able to sustain a high level of play for years. Full Article