Talladega College’s interim president Dr. Walter Kimbrough has defended the decision to eliminate six athletic programs in a bid to ensure the institution’s financial stability and make responsible fiscal decisions. The HBCU recently announced the discontinuation of men’s volleyball, acrobatics and tumbling, men’s and women’s golf, and men’s and women’s indoor track.
This move comes a few months after the college’s groundbreaking women’s gymnastics program was similarly cut after its inaugural season. Dr. Kimbrough addressed the issue in an op-ed published on AL.com, emphasizing the challenges institutions like Talladega face in maintaining athletic programs that are not financially viable.
“One of my first tough decisions was to end gymnastics, a feel-good program that cost almost $400,000 and generated no revenue,” Kimbrough wrote about the elimination of the gymnastics team. “Add that our athletic association, NAIA, does not sponsor gymnastics, and to compete against NCAA Division III schools meant travel to the Midwest and the Northeast, which was costly.”
Kimbrough further explained challenges specific to other programs, pointing out that decisions to introduce certain sports lacked feasibility analyses and long-term financial planning. The men’s volleyball program, for example, was added with the expectation that Talladega would transition to the NCAA’s Division II.
“We put the cart before the horse,” he admitted, noting that the college’s membership application to the NCAA was denied.
The costs associated with these programs extended beyond simple operations. “We added sports that were not sponsored by our own athletic conference, causing us to have to pay not one but three sets of dues,” Kimbrough argued. Decisions like these resulted in a financial burden that the institution could no longer justify.
The cuts are part of what the college describes as a larger effort to create long-term stability while keeping student financial concerns in mind.
“As a president of a small school with a large percentage of first-generation and low-income students, and sensitive to the national outcry about the increasing cost of college, I can’t imagine charging our students more money to continue sports that don’t generate revenue simply to say we offer those sports,” Kimbrough said.
The announcement has highlighted some notable examples of hope and transition. Last year, Talladega’s women’s gymnastics team, despite being cut, made history as the first HBCU gymnastics program to win an NCAA team competition. While efforts to secure funds to save the program failed, most of its athletes have since transferred to Wilberforce University to compete for its gymnastics team.
Talladega College noted in a press release that these decisions, though difficult, were necessary for long-term planning. “A feasibility study was not conducted before establishing these programs. The decision to establish these programs was made in the spirit of fostering a diverse and inclusive athletic environment. However, early on, such studies would have revealed that these programs were not sustainable under present institutional conditions.”
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