Principals in W&M athletics conflict find mutual respect
By David Teal, Richomond Times-Dispatch
More than two months have transpired since William & Mary gutted its Olympic sports offerings. Less than a week has passed since the school finished retracting that half-baked decision.
The process was exhausting and contentious, and considerable work beckons if the programs are to be sustained beyond 2021-22. But as they pause following this wise reset, the principals have forged mutual respect rooted in a profound affection — dare I say love? — for W&M.
Here are just two examples: Jeremy Martin and Mark Moran.
“I think he’s [Athletic Director Jeremy Martin] a good guy. … You’re thrown in a spot where you can’t please anyone. … I very much respect him.”
As chief of staff to W&M President Katherine Rowe, Martin was on the fringes Sept. 3, when the university announced the axing of seven sports. That 10,000-foot perspective vanished with his Oct. 6 appointment as interim athletics director.
Meanwhile, Moran was among the leaders of BackTrack Inc., a group of Tribe track alumni who set aside their jobs and families to lobby relentlessly for the sport’s reinstatement. They raised money, exposed W&M’s flawed reasoning and spoke eloquently of how their academic and athletic experiences in Williamsburg continue to impact their lives.
Moran estimates that he’s spent about six hours on Zoom calls with Martin, the virtual setting hardly ideal for building trust. Indeed, there were more than a few moments when the parties found one another a thorn in the backside. Yet for all the tension surrounding the proposed sports cuts, they found common ground in the value of their W&M experiences and support of Tribe athletes.
“I think he’s a good guy,” Moran said. “That is a tough spot. … You’re thrown in a spot where you can’t please anyone. … I very much respect him.”
“The passion, concern and care within the William & Mary community,” Martin said, “is awe-inspiring.”
Current Tribe athletes embody those traits as well, and their support for the targeted programs was universal, strident and effective.
“The student-athletes have conducted themselves well beyond their years and with a resolve and a dignity that is a reminder of why we do what we do at William & Mary,” Martin said.
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