Background Before the Change

With the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) establishing three distinct Divisions (I,II,III) for universities in the 1970s, Trinity decided to follow suit and establish themselves as a prominent Division III institution. During this time period, inflation rates began to rise initially in the 70s to what became later known as “The Great Inflation”. Nixon implemented a wage-price control, keeping prices higher while reducing demand that resulted in salaries raised significantly higher leaving businesses no other choice but to lay off lower-level workers (Amadeo). This could raise some flags for Trinity for tuition being altered or even not having enough funds to support all the teams equally. Beginning discussions about the future of Trinity’s athletic role went through the Long-Range Planning Committee (LRPC) consisting of board members, faculty, students, and administrators. It was considered a priority for the university in 1971 to discuss a course of action for athletics to take on a different direction other than that of Division I. In an article written by Susan Wilson, she suggests that funds and football played a very large part into why Trinity decided to leave the Southland Conference for Division I. She explains that, “the LRPC recommended to the Board of Trustees that: (1) Trinity University withdraw from the Southland Conference, (2) eliminate “big-time” subsidized football, and (3) explore the possibility of joining an intercollegiate “amateur” athletic conference” (Wilson 94). By the next meeting in October between the Board of Trustees, they arranged for a resolution similar to that which the LRPC suggested making it permanent. I want to elaborate more on what exact funds and money issues that Trinity could have been dealing with at the time. First, the football team did not have their own field back in the 1970’s so there’s an example of renting out a facility for the team to use for every home game on their schedule. Athletic scholarships also played another factor into budgeting problems due to the number of athletes receiving the scholarships compared to the money that the program profited from attendance, extra curriculars, fundraising, etc.