[BigJohn043]

The sports that are getting cut are run like the Ivies though. I don't think sailing got scholarships or at least full ones, and the academic breaks are small, I'm certain equivalent to the ones the Ivies give. 

I suspect like many have alluded that this is a way to free up admissions slots that are going to relatively privileged and whiter applicants. OTOH, all the recruited admissions combined for these cuts sports probably is less than what, 50 per year? Probably closer to 30. I'm sure they could increase the class size by that much without a major new building plan approved by PA.

I think it's a shame, as I knew walk ons from the student body in several of these sports (crew and fencing come to mind, none of whom were white fwiw) and went to a couple practices for sailing myself as a freshman (would have been fun but the early morning practices were not compatible with my extreme night owl schedule), something I did in HS but did not get recruited to do at Stanford. Those programs were run on a shoestring budget, and were not necessarily going to win against some of the traditional powerhouses in their sports, but I still think it was a great part of the Stanford experience to have them around. Lot more fat in the Stanford budget to cut than these programs IMHO.

Perhaps not a fashionable opinion now, but in 10 or 15 years or so after football players are getting paid and the inevitable disaster that will be for the sport at Stanford is realized, we will regret not just axing football and keeping these sports around.

I think you are missing the point.  It isn't one thing.  It is almost certainly a combination of money, admissions, diversity, etc.

We don't have an ivy league approach to sports.  We compete in the Pac-12 and the only other private institution in that league (U$C) supports 21 sports.  We were at 35.  I haven't got to every other school in the Pac-12 but UCLA & cal are both also at around 20.

The fact is our AD got bloated.  Who decided it was a good idea to add squash and synchronized swimming?  I know field hockey and fencing have been around for a long time, but almost no colleges on the west coast compete in these sports.

As long as the money was there it was probably easier to not to through the brain damage of trimming sports.  Now we have to pay the piper.

I do think wrestling has a chance.  They have raised the most money as far as I can tell and have a proposal to also start a woman's team which solves the Title-9 issues.

Men's volleyball is the other sport that just feels like something Stanford should do.  I think the problem is that the team really hasn't been very good for most of its history.

[BigJohn043]

The sports that are getting cut are run like the Ivies though. I don't think sailing got scholarships or at least full ones, and the academic breaks are small, I'm certain equivalent to the ones the Ivies give. 

I suspect like many have alluded that this is a way to free up admissions slots that are going to relatively privileged and whiter applicants. OTOH, all the recruited admissions combined for these cuts sports probably is less than what, 50 per year? Probably closer to 30. I'm sure they could increase the class size by that much without a major new building plan approved by PA.

I think it's a shame, as I knew walk ons from the student body in several of these sports (crew and fencing come to mind, none of whom were white fwiw) and went to a couple practices for sailing myself as a freshman (would have been fun but the early morning practices were not compatible with my extreme night owl schedule), something I did in HS but did not get recruited to do at Stanford. Those programs were run on a shoestring budget, and were not necessarily going to win against some of the traditional powerhouses in their sports, but I still think it was a great part of the Stanford experience to have them around. Lot more fat in the Stanford budget to cut than these programs IMHO.

Perhaps not a fashionable opinion now, but in 10 or 15 years or so after football players are getting paid and the inevitable disaster that will be for the sport at Stanford is realized, we will regret not just axing football and keeping these sports around.

I think you are missing the point.  It isn't one thing.  It is almost certainly a combination of money, admissions, diversity, etc.

We don't have an ivy league approach to sports.  We compete in the Pac-12 and the only other private institution in that league (U$C) supports 21 sports.  We were at 35.  I haven't got to every other school in the Pac-12 but UCLA & cal are both also at around 20.

The fact is our AD got bloated.  Who decided it was a good idea to add squash and synchronized swimming?  I know field hockey and fencing have been around for a long time, but almost no colleges on the west coast compete in these sports.

As long as the money was there it was probably easier to not to through the brain damage of trimming sports.  Now we have to pay the piper.

I do think wrestling has a chance.  They have raised the most money as far as I can tell and have a proposal to also start a woman's team which solves the Title-9 issues.

Men's volleyball is the other sport that just feels like something Stanford should do.  I think the problem is that the team really hasn't been very good for most of its history.