Bill would restrict scholarship dollars for non-citizen athletes

When Rep. Bob Dettmer ’s friend, a former University of Minnesota athlete, told him it seemed strange to spend state funds on scholarships for international student-athletes, the Forest Lake Republican got to thinking.

So Dettmer wrote a House bill, which would prohibit the use of state money for athletic scholarships for non-U.S. citizens, which opponents say could forcibly alter some schools’ recruiting practices that have become increasingly global.

“We feel that being that we are using our taxpayers’ money that it should go to U.S. citizens,” Dettmer said, especially because the underlying purpose behind scholarships is to provide educational opportunities.

The bill, which has an identical companion making its way through the Senate, would affect the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities systems, but MnSCU is most vulnerable.

The provision would begin with the next recruiting class, Dettmer said.

The University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus draws scholarship funds solely from its own endowments, so Gophers athletics programs are entirely unaffected.

But for the smaller programs that rely on state dollars to stay competitive, the restrictions the bill could place on global recruitment might seriously threaten programs’ future success.

“It would be tremendously disadvantageous for our programs when these other schools would not have that problem,” said Mike Gibbons, assistant coach of the St. Cloud State men’s hockey team , which has seven foreign players on its current roster.

The disparity between programs would be wide since only MnSCU schools’ athletics programs would be restricted by the bill, and other states pose no such limits — allowing competitors to more easily recruit from a bigger pool, a distinct advantage.

“What about other teams in our conference, they would have an opportunity to do that it would be extremely unfair,” Gibbons said of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association , which includes the Gophers men’s hockey team. “Is this legislation trying to ruin the WCHA? Well, that’s what would happen.”

While Gophers programs would go unaffected by the legislation, athletics director Joel Maturi said sometimes international recruitment is necessary to get top talent. Plus, he added, international student-athletes bring diversity and athletic success to campus.

“Institutions should be allowed within certain parameters to be who they have to be, to be successful,” he said. “Fortunately, [the bill] doesn’t affect us.”

Had Gophers teams been susceptible to these kinds of restrictions, Maturi said he would have been an active dissenter.

But Dettmer says schools can supplement state funds, earmarked for athletes from the U.S. under the bill, with separate endowments, free of restrictions on whose tuition they can cover.

In effect, Dettmer said, the bill wouldn’t drastically change the makeup of Minnesota’s collegiate athletics teams.

For example, the bill would free up state money for U.S. athletes. If these U.S. athletes use this state money, endowment funds previously allocated to them would be open for international athletes.

“Most Division I and Division II athletic programs that give out athletic scholarships, they have other monies that they can provide scholarships with that doesn’t have to be state-funded,” Dettmer said. “It’s just taxpayers’ money would go to U.S. citizens.”

And given the feeble economy, it’s important to assess where the Legislature funnels state funds.

“We have many good athletes in the United States that could really use these funds to advance their education,” Dettmer said. “Most college athletes don’t come out of college as pro athletes. They come out with a degree and with experience as an athlete, and that experience will help them in their careers.”

The identical Senate version of the bill, written by Sen. Ray Vandeveer , another Forest Lake Republican, is set for a hearing today at 12:45 p.m. before the higher education committee.

-Karlee Weinmann is a senior staff reporter.