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Champlain College Sports Coming To An End
by Champlain College

Champlain College today became the first four-year, private college in the East to create a multifaceted fitness, intramural, outdoor recreation and extracurricular program for its entire student body in place of its varsity sports program.

"We realize Champlain is pushing the conventional thinking of what’s expected in higher education. This new approach will meet the diverse athletic, intellectual and recreational needs of today’s students. Champlain students no longer attend sporting events in large numbers. They most prefer to be actively involved in their activities, whether they be aerobics classes, working out on fitness machines, participating in academic-related clubs, or intramural competition," said President Roger Perry.

The goal of this new programming is to quadruple the number of students actively involved in activities on campus. The current varsity sports programs involve about 50 athletes of the 1,380 full-time and 1,105 part-time Champlain students. Champlain’s major expansion of its activities and programs will ensure that a variety of student interests and desires will be met.

A survey commissioned by the College found that Champlain’s current students ranked leadership opportunities, fitness options, community service and clubs related to their major higher than the presence of varsity sports on campus. In a separate survey of prospective students, the presence of honors programs, community service, a state-of-the-art recreation center, and leadership opportunities were rated more influential than varsity sports in their college selection process.

College officials emphasized that their decision was primarily related to meeting student needs, not financial ones. "We are an institution in great fiscal health," said Board of Trustees Chairman Peter Collins. Champlain College has not run a budget deficit in the past 25 years. In addition, the College recently renovated five campus buildings and built a $7 million state-of-the-art information center while paying off more than $3 million in long-term debt.

To house the College’s extensive new offerings, Champlain will build a multi-million-dollar facility as part of its strategic plan for the downtown Burlington, Vermont, campus. The complex, still in the design stage, will include a fitness center with treadmills, exercise bikes, rowing machines, free weights, Universal weight machines, Stairmasters and a climbing wall.

In addition, the new center will house student organizations and clubs, among them groups such as the international club, literary magazine, accounting club and student government. The College’s outdoor recreational activities, to include snowboarding, sailing, hiking, kayaking, camping and rock and ice climbing, will be coordinated from the new facility. "Our goal is to make a significant investment in our student programs and to make participation in recreation more broad-based," Collins said.

"Today’s decision by the trustees is the result of a long and diligent process that involved the College community," Collins said. Discussions began two years ago on health, fitness and recreation programming, the fitness center and the role of athletics on campus. A special committee on student life began extensive research, surveys, interviews and open forums six months ago, culminating in today’s Board of Trustees’ decision.

Champlain’s three varsity sports teams—men’s basketball and men’s and women’s soccer—will continue to compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association until the 2002-03 school year. The College will honor athletic scholarships given to its players, including students entering this August.

The school currently employs three full-time coaches, each of whom will be offered positions at the planned fitness and student activities center. New hires are also likely.

Champlain College currently owns no athletic facilities. The school rents a city-owned auditorium for basketball and uses a city park for soccer.

Founded in 1878, Champlain College is a private higher education institution based in Burlington, Vermont, that offers two- and four-year degrees in 26 career-oriented fields of study. The College boasts overseas campuses in three foreign countries—Israel, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates—and empowers students for career success through an innovative curriculum, distance learning, corporate training partnerships and lifelong career placement support. More than 97 percent of Champlain graduates seeking employment find jobs within four months of graduation.

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