As the administration confronts the consequences of a tightening economy and shrinking endowment, it has had to significantly cut costs. These cuts have included decisions to postpone the search for a new Director of Student Activities and to convert Whitman’s varsity ski team to the club level.

In failing to bring the student body, student activities staff, any of the four ski teams or either of the teams’ two coaches into the decision-making process, President George Bridges and other administrators are doing more than shortchanging the ski team and student activities; they are creating an upsetting precedent.

The decision to ax an entire varsity sport is a substantial one, and should have been considered by both the administration and athletic department in collaboration with students: especially those involved in athletics. Within hours of the announcement, constructive feedback could be found on numerous listservs, all seeking solutions.   For instance, two varsity athletes specifically asked their teams to give up money from their budget in order to help “save skiing.”

In addition to printing hundreds of t-shirts and mobilizing the student body on its behalf, the ski team has assembled a coalition of highly supportive alumni, skiers and parents. This same coalition has put together a 59-page proposal offering alternate solutions to save the team that is their legacy and their passion. All of these efforts by the ski team and community have occurred in less than four weeks.

Similarly, students have suffered the loss of the Director of Student Activities position for next year. ASWC President-elect Nadim Damluji called the initial decision to postpone the hiring of a replacement for Andrea Ramirez “an extreme lack of foresight from the administration.”

Assistant Director of Student Activities Leann White said, of the same initial decision, that next year, “there will be less that students can do and less that the students activities office can do” in the March 5 issue of The Pioneer. Despite this blow to student activities, the administration did not consult students: the group it affects most.

Working toward solutions cooperatively with those most passionate about skiing, the administration might have been able to keep skiing as a varsity sport at Whitman.   Thanks to the efforts of the team and its supporters, they may still be able to. If the administration had consulted ASWC or other groups, they might have been able to develop options that would not limit what the student activities office can do.

But in handing down both of these decisions from on high, without any previous notification, the administration effectively told the ski team and the student programming community as a whole that it had no interest in hearing their ideas.

To its credit, the administration is paying attention to the team’s proposal. Bridges and Athletic Director Dean Snider have already held two meetings with a group of ski team representatives to discuss it before allowing the trustees to make their final decision.

Still, it is likely too late to salvage the ski team as it currently operates. If the administration had invited discussion or solicited more creative options: even invited the ski teams to lobby for themselves: then a compromise might have been possible. At the very least, the ski team could have had ample time to solicit support from alumni and other potential sponsors. As it happened, the decisions seem to have been made behind closed doors or without proper forum.

The changes to the ski team and student activities are a warning to the students of Whitman College: the administration is prepared to cut important programs without early notification, open discourse or appreciation for the resourcefulness of students dedicated to keeping the things they love.

Failing to tell students that their programs are in imminent danger of being drastically altered is a highly disappointing decision by Whitman’s administrators.

What the decision bodes for the future, though, is perhaps even more unsettling. As the college is forced to make further cuts, students should make it unmistakable that they demand greater transparency from the administration and the chance they deserve to keep the programs they love.