Alumnus vies for U. fencing reinstatement
University alumnus Vincent Paragano is taking a stab at reinstating one of six sports cancelled under former Athletic Director Robert E. Mulcahy with a new proposal to restore fencing to varsity status.
Presented in a letter to the Board of Governors, Interim Director of Athletics Carl Kirschner, Paragano said he aims to influence what University President Richard L. McCormick called last week the athletic department's "new direction" with the proposal.
"Our goal should be to excel in all sports. That can be the ‘new direction,' providing adequate athletic outlets and opportunities for the best students in New Jersey," Paragano said.
The proposed budget entails a total out-of-pocket cost to the University of roughly $39,000 for both men's and women's fencing combined, exclusive of scholarships and benefits.
The letter states the budget was prepared on a collaborative basis, with the fencing head coach of a well-respected tri-state area intercollegiate varsity men's and women's fencing team, and is based on his expertise.
The athletic department announced in 2006 they were downgrading men's and women's fencing, lightweight and heavyweight men's crew, men's tennis and men's swimming and diving to club status after the 2006-2007 school year.
Paragano, a former fencer for the University, serves as the chairman of New Jersey Division of the United States Fencing Association and has been involved with the University group Coalition to Save Our Sports since its inception in August 2006.
"I'd like to think the University is capable of handling six Olympic teams at which the University students excel and are extremely popular in New Jersey among high school students," Paragano said.
Students interviewed were supportive of reinstating the fencing team as an official sport at the University.
Rutgers College junior Frank Brifu said the Olympic sports should be given a chance to be reinstated.
"There's no reason for all our money to go toward football. It's important for everybody to have their piece of the pie," Brifu said.
School of Arts and Sciences sophomore Surge Chaudry said that he doesn't follow fencing but hopes the program is reinstated.
"Any club or organization is good to have for the University," Chaudry said.
In the letter, Paragano describes the downgrading of the Olympic sports as a faulted process.
"It is our firm belief that the decision to terminate these varsity teams was based on inaccurate and incomplete information," Paragano said in to the letter.
The BOG was not informed about the cost to the University of eliminating a women's team, according to the letter.
"This lack of accurate information and the elimination of the female fencing athletic slots forced the University to move from Prong 3 Title IX compliance to the far less desirable Prong 1 proportionality test," according to the letter. "In turn, the movement from Prong 3 to Prong 1 required new women's athletic scholarship spending of some $700,000. That cost alone offset any claimed savings resulting from the elimination of the six teams."
The letter cites information that the coalition believes was not communicated to the BOG by the athletic department, including the athletic and academic records of the eliminated teams.
"Fencing was consistently among the highest achieving teams in terms of [grade point average], as well as the highest achieving team, consistently second to women's basketball, in terms of athletic achievement," Paragano said.
The coalition suspects the BOG was also not notified of the offsets to the real cost to the University of running the six teams, according to the letter. This includes the NCAA per team subsidy, NCAA scholarship subsidies and Scarlet "R" donations directed to the eliminated programs.
Paragano said some alumni fencers had withheld donations to the University as a form of protest.
"I personally know of ten alumni who donated more than a $1,000 to $15,000 a year who stopped," Paragano said.
The letter states the BOG was not told of the opportunity loss to the approximately 15,000 New Jersey student-athletes engaged in the eliminated sports.
"A third of all high school fencing teams are in the Garden State," Paragano said. "In today's economic climate these kids would rather stay in New Jersey and stay home and go to school and study rather than pay out-of-state tuition."
This cuts deep for Paragano because he coaches the men and women's fencing teams at Governor Livingston High School, in Berkeley Heights, N.J. Both his teams are competing in the state finals.
"I can't write a single recommendation for those kids to go to Rutgers. Don't you think that that hurts me?" Paragona said. "I would've loved to send these kids to Rutgers."
