The MIAC President’s Council met Thursday to discuss the future of St. Thomas’ role in the conference. No vote was taken but future discussions at meetings will still take place. (Jacob Schneider/TommieMedia)
The MIAC President’s Council met as scheduled Thursday to consider bylaw changes that could lead to St. Thomas’ expulsion, but no vote was taken.
In a written statement, MIAC Commissioner Dan McKane said discussions between the 13 institutions would continue at future meetings.
“We support the MIAC, we want to be in the MIAC and we want to be in Division III,” said UST Sports Information Director Gene McGivern. “We’re doing everything we can to help stabilize membership.”
Prior to today’s meeting, multiple sources indicated the 13 school presidents would likely consider placing an enrollment cap of 4,000 undergraduate students on MIAC members.
St. Thomas has 6,336 undergraduates. It is the only MIAC school with more than 4,000 undergraduates. Such a bylaws change would need to be followed by a formal vote to expel St. Thomas from the league.
The university was one of the original five founding MIAC members in 1920.
In November of 2007, St Thomas finished 7th out of 9 teams in the MIAC. Bethel and St. John’s sat at the top of the standings. Only Carleton and Hamline lost more games than St. Thomas.
I was on the sidelines that season photographing game action for the sports information department. I watched with sadness as players hung their heads on the sideline or bickered with one another in their frustration at the miserable feeling that comes from losing too often.
In January that year, UST opted to hire the football coach from Macalester College, a school not known for its football prowess and not even competing in the MIAC. The turnaround was remarkable – Coach Caruso restored dignity, discipline, self respect and brotherhood to the Tommies team. The Tommies went 7-3 in year one. The next year they were 11-2, 7-1 in conference and played in the quarterfinal playoff game in playoffs. And then the records started to accumulate. It was a thrill to be along for the ride.
The lesson that the MIAC presidents need to learn, is that if your program is not measuring up, ask what can you do to make it better, not what can you do to reduce the competition. Fortunately they dropped this feeble folly.
I’m not a Tommie alum. I graduated from another MIAC school. But my respect for the athletes and coaches at UST, the standards they set for themselves and their teams and their pursuit of excellence with compassion and dignity is immeasurable.
Well done!