Missouri State professor proposes eliminating scholarships

~ The economics professor will make a presentation to the faculty senate today.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- An economics professor at Missouri State University is calling for the elimination of football scholarships there, saying the money could be better spent on faculty and keeping fee hikes at bay.

Tom Wyrick, who will present his recommendation to the faculty senate today, also said low sales of season tickets show that football is of less interest at the university than at many other campuses and communities.

"At MSU, football is neither a central theme nor a key recruiting tool," Wyrick wrote in his proposal.

The recommendation, which Wyrick said would save the university between $400,000 and $500,000 per year, will be made on the same day that a committee appointed last summer releases a report and recommendations on the future of sports at the university, formerly known as Southwest Missouri State.

Michael Nietzel, the university's news president, appointed the nine-member committee headed by Bruce Johnson, an agriculture professor, to evaluate the athletic programs. He asked the panel to consider ability to compete, the academic record of athletes, integration of an athletic program into campus and university culture, and its ability to live within its budget and be as financially independent as possible.

Wyrick said he applied those standards to football and that it "did lousy."

"It's a 'no' on pretty much every account," he said.

Nietzel said Wyrick's proposal contained "inaccurate and misleading statements" that made it of limited value to him, adding that he would have additional comments about it today.

Wyrick said he made the proposal because many members of the Athletics Priority Committee are connected to athletics or "serve the president on a daily basis."

He said he and other faculty members supporting him want to give Nietzel "advice and a perspective that he's not going to get from the committee."

Johnson, whose son played football at the university, would not disclose what the report says about football, but added, "As a father of a former football player, I would like to see football continue here."