Athletics officials should give serious consideration to the womens ice hockey clubs request for varsity status.
This years petition marks the third time since the club was formed in 1995 that the team has attempted to become varsity.
There are 69 schools in NCAA divisions I to III that host varsity womens hockey teams. Wayne State University is the only Michigan college with a varsity womens ice hockey squad.
MSU hosts 11 womens varsity sports.
In 1996, the womens ice hockey club applied for varsity status. It tried again in 1999, but was told it wasnt in the budget.
We believe it would be in MSUs best interest to grant varsity status to the womens ice hockey team this time around.
Since it formation, the womens hockey club has shown time and again it intends to be a serious competitor on the national scene.
This year, the club has achieved a No. 2 national ranking and will travel to Atlanta as a top seed to compete in the American Collegiate Hockey Associations national tournament March 1-3.
Since the U.S. womens hockey team won the gold medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics, the female version of the ice sport has grown in popularity across the country.
It would be wise for MSU to mark itself among the leaders in the nation with the formation of womens ice hockey as a varsity staple in college sports.
The sooner MSU can throw its hat into the varsity womens hockey ring, the better the universitys chance will be to recruit top players from Canada and the East Coast to earn its place in the national spotlight.
Finances should not be a major factor in prolonging the ice hockey clubs varsity status. It is typical that womens sports spend more money than they generate, as do most mens sports.
So long as the athletics department depends on mens football and basketball to generate the greatest revenue to pay for other varsity sports, it should not hold womens ice hockey to a greater standard.
In fact, the womens club has shown great interest in raising most of its needed revenue itself. John Munn, president of the clubs booster program, said his goal would be to generate $250,000 to $500,000 from corporate and private sponsors to fund the sports first varsity season.
The addition of varsity womens ice hockey team also could help MSU in other athletic areas, such as Title IX compliance.
In 2000, the university cut the mens gymnastics program from its varsity sport status to comply with gender equality legislation.
Of the 17 ways to comply with Title IX regulations, MSU uses the population standard that requires the percentage of male and female athletes to remain within 2 percent of the undergraduate population.
A varsity womens ice hockey squad could open the way to bringing mens gymnastics back to the varsity scene.
The women of the MSU ice hockey club have earned their chance to prove themselves on the varsity circuit. Athletics officials should give them a chance.