MANSFIELD, Connecticut — UConn has made the decision to cut four athletic programs over budget distress. One of those teams, Woman's rowing, is fighting for reinstatement and threatening a lawsuit.
"We work hard every day. Every morning we wake up to practice and we are one of the most disrespected teams here," said Sophomore rower Emily Torre.
The feeling of disrespect and being kicked to the curb by the university they feel like they have given everything to.
"It was super last minute and unexpected and it just kind of made us feel unappreciated and not heard," said Junior Rower Maia Moscova.
The UConn Women’s rowing team picked up their oars and marched across campus to call for the reinstatement of their sport after the university decided to cut the program.
UConn says they had no choice but to make the difficult decision to eliminate the program along with the Men’s tennis, cross country and swimming and diving teams to cover financial losses endured during the COVID-19 pandemic.
UConn tells FOX61 in a statement that they will not be revisiting their decision.
"I really think that the university is giving them not a fair shake on this especially with the Title IX compliance," UConn rowing alumni Liz Harsley.
The team will be filing a Title IX lawsuit over their termination Tuesday if not reinstated first. The students feel the university had other options including ones they presented from other teams willing to make budget cuts to save theirs.
"No one wanted a varsity team cut and each team was selfless and offered to take a small bit of their budget and come together so that our team didn’t have to be cut and they ignored us," said Torre.
The team says they have not heard back from the university about their calls to be reinstated.
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