Temple meeting on discontinued sports set for Tuesday

Temple president Neil D. Theobald has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday with the coaches and athletes from the seven sports Temple has announced it is cutting at the end of the academic year.

This will be the first time coaches and athletes from discontinued sports will have a chance to address university administrators and trustees since the sports cuts were announced after a board of trustees vote in December.

According to a source, coaches from each targeted sport - baseball, men's gymnastics, men's and women's rowing, softball, men's track and field, and indoor track - have been informed that they can bring up to two athletes from each sport to the meeting inside the Liacouras Center, and that each team will have up to 15 minutes for a presentation.

A Temple spokesman declined comment, but Theobald informed the coaches by e-mail that the school would also be represented by athletic director Kevin Clark and several members of the board of trustees, including board chairman Patrick O'Connor and athletics committee chairman Lewis Katz. It will be closed to the general public.

Theobald told coaches he also is inviting up to three representatives from the "T-7 Council." a recently formed group of parents and alumni looking to fight the cuts. That group had sought a meeting with the trustees.

In his e-mail, Theobald wrote, "I expect that everyone involved will commit themselves to a civil and respectful discourse. Thank you for your willingness to join in this dialogue."