The news out of Towson earlier this week that the school is planning on cutting the men’s baseball and soccer teams makes me sad and a little bit angry. I simply don’t think that this is fair, and it’s not because I am the former Sports Editor of The Towerlight or a sports fanatic. This is about students and their lives and dreams.

I don’t know the exact number of student-athletes on scholarship playing for either the baseball or soccer team, but I’m sure it’s a lot. My point is that if this cutting of two varsity teams actually happens, that’s a lot of student-athletes that will be out of a place to play. I don’t think that many will accept the fact that their team is no more and stay at Towson as a regular student.

The point is that students will be losing their friends and classmates, who happen to be athletes, because the University wants to comply with Title IX. Students at Towson will be losing out on watching the baseball games at Schuerholz Park on those pristine spring afternoons, when the hill adjacent to Burdick Hall is full of rowdy Tiger supporters.

The men’s soccer team has eight players from outside the country playing pulling on a Towson uniform this season. That’s eight players that are far from home and may soon be out of a place to play soccer. This whole situation may be hardest on the soccer team and their international players. It’s simply not fair.

For the juniors on both of these teams, it’s not like there’s a lot of wiggle room for them to continue their collegiate careers elsewhere. Many of those student-athletes are probably close to finishing their degrees – from my experience a lot of student-athletes take summer and winter classes to get ahead of schedule – and now their teams are going to be cut and their professional dreams will be taking a hit. Transferring to another school for one more year of eligibility will force them to sit out a year athletically, which is something nobody wants to do.

There’s something to be said about loyalty and finishing what you started.  When a student-athlete commits to a school, he or she expects to play four years for the University. Because of this ruling, some baseball and soccer players won’t be able to finish their four years at Towson.

Do the right thing, Towson administration, and don’t go through with this. It’s not fair to so many people.