Central Washington University Athletics

   

• Why is this being done?
  • This was a very difficult decision and one that was not taken lightly.  The structural deficit facing the university caused by lower enrollment, a reduction in state funding, and increased expenses, has led the university as a whole to restructure. In order to develop a more fiscally sustainable athletics department, a reduction in sport offerings was necessary. 
  • With these factors in mind, we performed a comprehensive analysis of our current sport offerings and made the difficult decision to discontinue sponsoring our rugby programs.

 

• How were the discontinued sports chosen, and why now?
  • We conducted an analysis of our current sport offerings based on a combination of factors, including budget implications; national governing bodies and conference affiliation requirements; revenue generation including donations, corporate partnerships, gates, and general community support; sports' history and tradition; gender equity in relationship to participation opportunities and university enrollment; and a number of other considerations.
  • Regarding the timing of the decision, we did not want to impact either program's current competition season. We did, however, want to announce the decision now in order to allow affected student-athletes and staff as much time as possible to pursue other opportunities, including reforming as a club sport as both programs were prior to 2014-15 when they were elevated to varsity status.  

 

• Were other sports considered for elimination? 
  • Multiple options were thoroughly evaluated, taking into consideration long-term academic and athletic success, financial sustainability, gender equity, and GNAC membership requirements. Consideration and respect were given to the sports' history, tradition, former student-athletes, and supporters.  

 

• How many student-athletes and coaches are affected by the discontinuation of these sports?
  • With the elimination of these two sports, we anticipate that 70-75 student-athletes and four coaches, two of whom are full-time, will be affected.

 
 

• Will CWU honor existing scholarships of the impacted student-athletes? 
  • Yes, all current athletic-related waiver scholarships for the impacted student-athletes who have such scholarships for the current year will be honored for the 2025-26 academic year.

 

• Will Central honor scholarships for new, incoming student-athletes in the impacted sports? 
  • Yes, all incoming students with existing signed athletic aid agreements for the 2025-26 academic year will receive the scholarship for the 2025-26 academic year.

 

• Will Central assist student-athletes who desire to transfer? 
  •  Yes, all affected student-athletes will receive full releases to transfer, if requested. Students should contact Director of Compliance and Financial Aid Sara Tucker should they want to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal (only pertains to women's rugby). Additional details regarding transfer guidelines are provided at the bottom of this page. 

 

• What will Central do now to handle the process with the impacted student-athletes?

• The university will provide continued support services, as we do for all students in the areas of mental health, financial aid, and other services.

 

• Who was involved in the decision to discontinue these sport programs?
  • Athletics is single entity within our university, and we communicate with various stakeholders when making decisions that impact not only our athletics department, but the university as a whole and our many stakeholders.  These actions were recommended by the athletics administration and Director of Athletics Dennis Francois and were supported by University President Jim Wohlpart and our Board of Trustees Executive Committee.

 

• Is the university considering the discontinuation of other sports programs?
  • Moving forward, we will continue to monitor our university's fiscal health, but at this time, we do not anticipate discontinuing any other sport programs.

 

• Will the impacted sports be reinstated sometime in the future?
  • No, there is no plan to reinstate these sports.

 

• What university savings are expected by discontinuing the impacted sports? 
  • After the 2025-26 academic year, when athletic-related waiver scholarships are discontinued, the anticipated annual savings will be approximately $900,000.

 

• How will these savings be used by the university?
  • At this time, the savings will not be spent by the university; rather, they will assist the university in its goal of achieving a balanced budget by decreasing overall expenses.

 
 

• How will the university work with donors to honor their wishes regarding donations, endowments, or planned gifts to the discontinued sports? 
  • The University Advancement Office will assist all donors regarding affected gift agreements.

 

• Would additional donor support enable the reinstatement of the impacted sports?  
  • Unfortunately, it will not, due to the need to achieve not only short-term, but long-time financial sustainability, along with a more appropriate sports profile/portfolio for the institution. The athletic department and the university need to focus our efforts on securing philanthropic support for our other programs. Central Washington University is extremely grateful to those who have impacted, and continue to impact, the lives of our hundreds of student-athletes through their generous philanthropy.

 

• What is the employment status of the coaches in the impacted sports?  
  • Director of Athletics Dennis Francois has informed both coaching staffs that their contracts will not be renewed upon the completion of their current contract. The Office of Human Resources is working with the individual coaches to support them during this time.  

 

• Will student-athletes from the impacted sports have access to support services such as academic services, sports medicine, and strength & conditioning for continued academic support, injury prevention and rehabilitation, and training? 
  • Yes. Student-athletes in both programs will continue to have full access to the services provided by our academic services program, our sports medicine clinic, and our strength and conditioning program for the remainder of the current academic year.

 

• How many total athletics scholarships were offered this year in the rugby programs?
  • Each program received 15 tuition waivers, in addition to out-of-state/international waivers, to assist in recruiting non-Washington state student-athletes. 

 

• Will club sports be an option for the impacted student-athletes?
  • Club sport programs are determined by the interest of the student body. Should adequate interest exist, it will be up to the students to explore the option of developing a club sport with our University Recreation sport program coordinator.

 

• Will discontinuing these sports impact CWU's conference or national affiliations (i.e., Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Lone Star Conference, NCAA, and USA Rugby)?
  • Neither program had conference affiliation like the remaining 13 varsity programs.  Since women's rugby is still an emerging sport in the NCAA and not yet a Championship sport due to not having 35 NCAA varsity teams at the Division II level, this decision will not impact our NCAA affiliation. Both men and women competed within the structure of USA Rugby.

  

• How does this decision affect Title IX compliance?
  • We continually strive to maintain equitable experiences and opportunities for our male and female student-athletes, and we take into consideration the potential impact on Title IX with every decision we make as an athletic department. This process was no exception, and we are confident that this decision will improve our ability to remain compliant with Title IX over the long term.

 

• Transfer guidelines for Men's Rugby student-athletes
  • Men's rugby operates independently from the NCAA, and there is nothing you'll need directly from the athletics department to transfer to a different university. Coach Thornley will be able to assist in any way, in terms of contacting other coaches/programs on your behalf, but there is no NCAA paperwork, release, etc. that is needed for you to transfer on an athletic basis.  

 

• Transfer guidelines for Women's Rugby student-athletes
  • If you would like to be contacted by coaches at other institutions, you will need to follow the steps below:
    • Watch educational module here: NCAA Division II Student-Athlete Transfers
    • Once you get to the end of the educational module, click on the blue link that says, "Click here to complete your education module acknowledgement."
      1. 
    • From there, complete the details on the page that looks like this. Be sure to use a personal email so coaches can contact you.
      1. 
    • Once your name is on the Education Module List in the portal, the Compliance Office will be able to complete a Notification of Transfer. You will need to wait until the Compliance Office sends you confirmation that you have been entered into the portal to reach out to/ speak with other coaches.
    • 
      Body of email:
      "We have outlined a couple steps that are necessary to consider when you are deciding whether or not transferring is the best option for you.
       
      You'll need to contact whichever institution you are considering transferring into to get an idea of how many credits transfer. There is typically a transfer advisor that you can schedule with to review your current unofficial transcripts to see how many credits would transfer. You can obtain an unofficial transcript (shown below) by logging in to MyCWU, navigating to the Student Dashboard, click "Graduation" button, click "View Unofficial Transcript". We recommend gathering syllabi from the classes you took here at CWU in case you need to show that you have met requirements of general education courses at your next institution.
      
      When applying to another institution you will need to provide your academic records. You can learn more about obtaining an official transcript at this link: Central Washington University | Request Transcripts. For specific questions, please contact the Records Office at transcript@cwu.edu or 509-963-3047.
       
      If being on track to graduate here at CWU is a question, you should reach out to your advisor as soon as possible to discuss a grad plan evaluation if you do not have one on file. This will allow you to fully understand your academic picture before making a decision.
       
      Our AD has drafted a letter of explanation that you can submit with any possible late applications for admissions to institutions explaining your circumstances being no fault of your own. It is attached above.
       
      If you have completed FAFSA for the upcoming 25-26 academic year, be sure to add any institution you are considering to see what a possible financial aid package would be if you transferred. You can add them by logging into your FAFSA account, clicking on the 2025-26 FAFSA form, click on the "Actions" button in the right corner near the top of the page, select "Add or Remove Schools".  Please be aware that any balance you still have due will still be owed, even if you do transfer. You will need to make arrangements with student accounts to pay off that amount.
      • Student Accounts
        Central Washington University | Student Accounts
        (509) 963-3546
        StudentAccounts@cwu.edu
      • If you run into any roadblocks along the way, do not hesitate to reach out to the Sara Tucker, sara.tucker@cwu.edu, in the Compliance Office and we will do our best to facilitate assistance where we can.