by | April 5th, 2006
In a move that is sure to rankle some people, the assistant director to athletics at OSU has declared that cheerleading is not a sport and is a dangerous activity. Thus, the program has been canceled…despite a strong following from the student body, and nationally ranked placement. Can anyone say, huh?
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I noticed that the Assistant Athletic Director is a woman. Women atheletes tend to be pretty strong women’s rights advocates/feminists. Is it possible this has something to do with a traditional feminist notion that something like cheerleading is demeaning to women? The excuses used to cut the program seem very suspect. I could perhaps buy the injury argument if there was a rash of OSU cheerleaders falling on their heads. The “not a sport” thing is so subjective and arbitrary, too. I’d say it was just money, but normally they would warn people that they were going to cut the program to try to build donation dollars and fundraising.
If this was in Missouri I could buy that it’s for the reasons explained. But this is Oregon, where there are more bumper stickers than bumpers. I suspect politics at play.
Oh, and I just re-read and saw this:
“The school says the cheerleading squad will be replaced with a larger, more diverse group of spirit leaders, a group that will likely don khaki pants and polo shirts.”
Yep, politics.
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