Despite being one of the smallest liberal arts colleges in the country, William Jewell College has long been a well-regarded institution in the Kansas City area. This reputation is due not only to its high academic standards but also to its athletic prowess: nearly two-thirds of Jewell’s students participate in sports, making athletics a central part of student life and recruitment.
However, the 2025-2026 academic year began under unusual circumstances. After years of financial difficulties, Jewell declared financial exigency during the 2024-2025 academic year, a rare and serious measure that reflects the severity of the challenges facing the institution. Although the administration emphasized that the situation remained manageable, the announcement plunged the university community into a state of heightened uncertainty.
For student-athletes, the impact is particularly pronounced. As the school was reevaluating financial priorities, the possibility of reshaping athletics and cutting specific programs seemed very real. As a result, the student athlete experience now oscillates between relative stability on the field and constant questions off it.
Jewell student athletes have always had to deal with busy schedules and high expectations, but in the spring semester of 2025, these pressures intensified. The athletic medical staff made a controversial proposal to increase student secondary insurance fees (special insurance for athletes designed to cover the remaining medical expenses related to sports injuries) by an additional $350 for student athletes. Although this fee was intended to protect players’ health and ensure they had medical coverage, it was perceived by many student athletes as an additional financial burden, particularly when combined with rising tuition fees and a temporary freeze on scholarships. In other words, no athlete will see their scholarship increased for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Compounding this unease, a wave of athletes transferred out of Jewell during the last semester. For those who remained, one question lingers at every practice and every game: What will athletics at Jewell look like next semester? Softball, for example, has faced one of the most visible challenges. The team’s head coach resigned at the end of last semester, leaving players in a precarious situation as the season approaches. However, the administration took an unusual and refreshing step: it directly involved the players in the interview process for hiring a new coach. Indeed, the players will have a say on the final hiring decision. This level of athlete involvement is rare at the university level and marks a significant shift toward greater student participation in program decisions.
Although the declaration of financial exigency cast a shadow over the athletic department, it also reignited crucial debates about transparency, resource allocation, and the future of sports at Jewell. The story of Jewell softball highlights the vulnerability of sports at small universities, where limited resources make athletic programs particularly sensitive to personnel changes and enrollment fluctuations. However, Jewell’s willingness to involve players in decision-making could also pave the way for new models of resilience.
For now, the semester seems too short to judge whether athletics at Jewell will emerge stronger or even more fragile. But what is clear is that the student-athlete experience at William Jewell is being reshaped, in real time, by the financial crossroads at which the university finds itself.