IUB's intercollegiate athletics program has
a long tradition of excellence in several key sports. From its humble
beginnings with baseball in 1867, the Hoosier athletic program has grown
to include over 600 male and female student-athletes on 24 varsity teams
boasting one of the nation's best overall records. Sports sponsored by
the university include football, men's basketball, women's basketball,
cross country and track, baseball, golf, tennis, rowing, volleyball, and
more.
The Hoosiers became a member of the prestigious Big Ten Conference on
December 1, 1899. The school's national affiliation is with the National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The teams won one women's and
six men's national team titles (now totaling 25; 24 NCAA, 1 AIAW),
topped by a record-setting six straight men's swimming & diving titles,
seven men's soccer crowns and five titles in men's basketball. Indiana
student-athletes have won 133 NCAA individual titles, including 79 in
men's swimming and diving and 31 in men's track and field. In addition,
IU teams have won or shared 157 Big Ten Conference championships.
The IU athletics endowment is $42 million, the largest in the Big Ten
Conference. The Varsity Club, which is the fund-raising arm of the
Athletics Department, drew a record $11.5 million in gifts and pledges
in the fiscal year 2004-05. In addition, overall annual giving has
increased 8.3% in the last year and 44.8 percent in the last three
years.
In spite of this giving, IU's athletics department has been unable to
balance its budget. Because of this the university administration has
attempted, thus far unsuccessfully, to double the athletics fee which
students pay with their tuition each semester. A number of students
argue that the athletics department's financial woes are its own
problems, and that support of athletics should be voluntary. Others,
especially in the athletics department, argue that athletic programs are
an integral part of the university experience, and therefore everyone
should pay into it, regardless of whether they are interested in it.
