There has recently been some discussion about small school hockey budgets which has mainly focused on division II and III schools, but perhaps the most interesting case is Colorado College. As far as I know (please correct me if I'm wrong) CC is the smallest school (1,900 students) with a major division I hockey program. There has recently been much debate on the CC campus about whether to retain division I hockey and what place a big-time program has in a liberal arts college that is ranked in the top twenty academically in the country. After the NC$$ violations involving former coach Brad Buetow, it looked as if hockey would surely be terminated. The faculty was completely in favor of abolishing hockey, and the students were divided on the issue, although those who supported abolishing hockey were much more vocal than those who favored retaining the program. The arguments against d-I hockey were that a school of our size and character had no business being in d-1 and that even though CC is in excellent financial condition, division I was just too expensive. CC's d-1 budget, which includes only men's hockey and women's soccer (our soccer program has traditionally been a major power house), is over one milliion dollars. Because we had an interim president, the decision on d-1 hockey was delayed for over a year, and when we hired our new coach, Don Lucia, we had to tell him that there was no guarantee that the program he was coaching would remain division I. Another reason for delaying the decision was that the Tigers' home arena, the Broadmoor World Arena, was slated to be torn down in one year, and the college wanted to know what the prospects were for having a new arena to play at. Without the prospect of a new arena in Colorado Springs (not funded by the college) the decision would be to scrap d-1. The next season, lo and behold, CC hockey went from worst to first in the WCHA, winning national attention. I'm not sure how our winning effected the d-1 decision, but I know one of the major factors in deciding whether to keep d-1 hockey was the class the Don Lucia has shown. After Brad Buetow, many had argued that a team could not succeed in d-1 without violating NC$$ rules and being somewhat "slimy". Lucia's class seemed to refute this argument. The final decision on d-1 sports came this semester from president Kathryn Mohrman. The premise of the decision was that if CC didn't have their strong tradition of college hockey (college hockey was started by the Penrose and Tutt families, major benefactors of the college, and every national championship used to be played at the Broadmoor), the college would not even consider starting a program. However, giving the hockey tradition (not to mention alumni support for Tiger hockey), the program would be retained, given some very strict conditions. First, that the Colorado Springs World Arena be built within the next couple of years (CC now has to play all home games at the Air Force Academy) and that it have at least a 6,000 seat capacity. Second, that within a few years, at least 40% of the d-1 budget must come from external sources, mainly increased ticket sales at the larger arena, liscensing and increased sales of CC apparel and donations from alumni. If 40% of the d-1 budget does not come from external sources, the program will (supposedly) be cut. The third condition for retaining division I hockey is that if there is ever another scandal such as the one that happened two years ago under Brad Buetow, the program will be terminated immediately, even if it is in the middle of the season. NC$$ violations will not be tolerated, nor will a program that does not appear "classy" and give the college a good name. With Don Lucia as coach, it looks like CC hockey will have no problem continuing. Since the d-1 decision and its conditions were announced, numerous alumni have come forward to donate to the new arena, as well as to the hockey team itself. With CC in first place in the WCHA for most of the past year and a half, ticket sales have been good as have been merchandise sales. On top of this, Lucia is not only classy, but very smart, and will not do anything to endanger the program. I know this is a major disappointment to all you Denver, Minnesota and Wisconsin fans, because now none of you will have a chance to win the McNaughton Cup this year, nor for many years to come. This is also too bad for Maine, BU and Michigan, who now have no hope of winning a national championship. Jeff Brune GO TIGERS!!!! 1994 WCHA Champions