The Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents held its regular meeting in room 201 of Welch Hall Friday at 1 p.m. At the end of the meeting, speakers addressed concerns regarding EMU's athletics program and budget.
The speakers included Treasurer of the AAUP Howard Bunsis. Bunsis discussed the next steps the university should take to address issues with the budget.
“Now is the time for Eastern Michigan University to drop Division I football,” he said. “As board members you are destroying our university.”
EMU alumnus Brett Petersmark also spoke, and discussed the importance of athletics.
“I was asked to really kind of share how athletics has effected my life," he said. “I am a graduate of 1986... Athletics has been a positive influence throughout my whole life even up through today. It has helped me to learn skills from later in life but more importantly it has imprinted how I live my life.”
Senior biology major and former soccer player Julia Lombardi also spoke highly of athletics and its impact on her life.
“Being a student athlete has both reinforced and cultivated in me a multitude of skills virtues values and aptitudes that I will employ for the rest of my life,” she said.
Outgoing Student Body President Steven Cole addressed his own issues with athletics and the university's priorities.
“The direct deficit for a student comes at a remarkable $1,227,” he said. “The taxing of our students to support our athletic department is taking vital resources away from the core academic mission of our university. We can't afford to do nothing – it is not a question of anti-athletics, it is a question of institutional priorities.”
The regents also approved two new majors and a minor. The majors approved were the Geospatial Information Science and Technology major and the Special Education K-12 Learning Disabilities Endorsement. The minor approved was Simulation Animation and Gaming.
Also, the women's gymnastics and men's swimming and diving teams were honored as the 2016 MAC Champions.
The next regents meeting will be held Tuesday, June 21.
