Brigham Young U. Merges Men's and Women's Athletics Departments

By John Gravois

Brigham Young University announced on Wednesday that it was consolidating its men's and women's athletics departments into one, removing itself from the dwindling list of American colleges that maintain separate athletics programs for the two sexes.

K. Fred Skousen, Brigham Young's vice president for advancement, said on Thursday that the restructuring had come on the heels of a four-month internal review aimed primarily at both streamlining the university's athletics programs and making them more competitive.

Mr. Skousen said the decision to fuse the two programs was not a response to an investigation into one Brigham Young student's accusations that she was raped in August by several men she believes to be on the university football team.

The internal review, Mr. Skousen said, "was commissioned long before that circumstance came up."

He added, however, that the new program may include support systems for students who say they have been sexually assaulted.

The university, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said it would not renew the contracts of the men's athletics director, Val Hale, and the women's athletics director, Elaine Michaelis. The program's interim leaders will begin looking for a new athletics director in the next three to six months.

In addition to concerns about saving money and winning games, the athletics review considered Brigham Young's strong religious affiliation, said Mr. Skousen. "Our job," he said, "is to build a distinctive and competitive athletic program that is aligned with the values of our university and our church."