[Farm93]

i wonder if they were waiting for someone else to cut programs first.

Doubt it.  Probably related to required meetings and approvals.   

Once a school has decided to move forward they will move through a process of informing coaches and the issuing a release.  There would just be too big a negative for that information to be known by many, then leaked to media types, before official word was delivered to coaches and student-athletes.

COVID19 related expenses for academics and athletics, shaky enrollment (for non-elite schools), and a stretch of years that might be awful for donations will have many schools cutting a lot of sports.

Survival was not Dartmouth's concern, but there will be a lot of schools in the USA that will not make it to 2025.  The only timing that may be an issue for a school on the edge is to announce the academic and athletic cuts after the students have started the fall term to maximize tuition related revenue.

[Farm93]

i wonder if they were waiting for someone else to cut programs first.

Doubt it.  Probably related to required meetings and approvals.   

Once a school has decided to move forward they will move through a process of informing coaches and the issuing a release.  There would just be too big a negative for that information to be known by many, then leaked to media types, before official word was delivered to coaches and student-athletes.

COVID19 related expenses for academics and athletics, shaky enrollment (for non-elite schools), and a stretch of years that might be awful for donations will have many schools cutting a lot of sports.

Survival was not Dartmouth's concern, but there will be a lot of schools in the USA that will not make it to 2025.  The only timing that may be an issue for a school on the edge is to announce the academic and athletic cuts after the students have started the fall term to maximize tuition related revenue.