Men's wrestling -- along with the women's mat programannounced three years ago -- have been axed, along with football, lacrosse, cheerleading and dance, effective immediately.
Sports that will remain are men's and women's basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball, track, cross country, and men's and women's soccer.
At the same time these changes to Bacone's roster of intercollegiate sports were being revealed, the Muskogee, Okla.-based school also announced it was selling a shopping center it owned which housed a number of facilities, including the library, for $3.5 million. The sale was conducted with an eye to have a "streamlined operation" this fall after basically shutting down operations to a "skeleton crew" after graduation ceremonies in May, according to the Tulsa World, which reported that approximately 90 of the 95 full-time staff had been laid off, with the hope that many could be brought back on staff as Bacone's financial situation improves.
"My message is: 'We're open,'" Dr. Ferlin Clark, president of Bacone College, told the Tulsa World. "We want our students to come back. We want our potential students to come."
Clark said 18 employees' jobs have been terminated, with other faculty and staff to return in stages as finances allow. He said he is "right-sizing" the college and "re-aligning" it with its historic mission -- educating Native American students in a Christian environment, with education taking priority.
Ken Adams, Bacone's Board of Trustees chairman, offered his explanation as to how the school got into its financial situation.
"Over the past several years, Bacone College has gone through some very difficult times," Adams said. "We've suffered through a series of financial ups and downs, some because of poor decisions and some because of natural disasters.
"In spite of the serious difficulties we faced and still face, the Board of Trustees has demonstrated their faith in the future of Bacone College and our intent to keep the college open."
Bacone College is a private four-year liberal arts college in Muskogee, Okla. Founded in 1880 as the Indian University by Almon C. Bacone, Bacone College is the oldest continuously operated institution of higher education in Oklahoma. The college has strong historic ties to various tribal nations, including the Cherokee Nation and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and also to the American Baptist Churches USA. During the 2017-18 academic year, Bacone had an enrollment of approximately 700 students.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now