The Brief UTD’s track & field and cross-country sports will not be cut for the 2025-2026 year. The university reversed its decision to cut the sports after receiving negative feedback from the community. The original decision to eliminate the programs would have left student-athletes scrambling to find a new place to run just weeks before the start of the fall semester.

Track and field sports are back on at the University of Texas at Dallas.

UTD Track & Field

What’s new:

On Thursday morning, UTD President Richard Benson announced that the university will not be cutting its track & field and cross-country programs after all.

“Based on feedback from our community and UT System administration, I am reversing that decision, and these teams will be able to compete in the 2025-26 athletic season,” he said in a letter.

The backstory:

Earlier this week, UTD said it was eliminating the athletic programs due to budget constraints and a lack of on-campus facilities.

The decision drew community backlash, especially from student-athletes who were expecting to start classes in just a few weeks.

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Even though UTD assured they would retain any athletic scholarships for the 2025-2026 school year or assist with transfers, many of the student-athletes said it was too late to transfer this close to the season.

“The new recruits who came here solely for track and field, who are set to move in in a couple of weeks, maybe even days, and we all have nowhere to go. And we’re scrambling to pick up the pieces of our lives,” said Emma Foyt-Gade, a UTD junior.

What we don’t know:

The university didn’t release any information about whether the programs will continue after the upcoming season.