Murray State University’s Board of Regents approved the addition of five new varsity sports teams – including the resurrection of two prior programs – during its quarterly meeting on Friday.
In the coming years, Racer Athletics will field four new women’s programs: stunt, where teams compete head-to-head on cheerleading skills; rowing, a sport Murray State previously sponsored from 1998 through 2008; beach volleyball; and bowling. After discontinuing men’s tennis in 2016, regents also approved the re-addition of that program.
Altogether, Murray State Athletics Director Nico Yantko said these sports would add 171 new students to the campus population once all of the programs are up and running. The earliest any of these programs would field teams would be in the 2027-28 school year, but recruiting could start for some of the new teams this fall.
“When you actually look at the impact, not only through tuition dollars but auxiliary monies – when you include fees, housing obligations, academic requirements and other impact in the community – these are going to be new revenue drivers for the entire campus,” Yantko told regents on Friday.
Stunt is one of the fastest-growing college sports, having earned NCAA championship status earlier this year. Teams compete in a four-quarter format, and are awarded points based on the execution of skills like partner stunts, pyramids, jumps and tumbling. Murray State will be the third Kentucky school to offer the sport at the varsity level, joining the University of Kentucky and Northern Kentucky University.
Most of these new sports would utilize existing infrastructure on campus and in the surrounding area. Yantko said the only sport requiring a new space to be built is the beach volleyball program.
None of these new sports would offer athletics scholarships. Yantko said adding these programs would bring in students who would pay tuition and come to Murray State for the opportunity to be an NCAA Division I athlete.
Yantko said the department is exploring a “bifurcated model of athletics” – where some of the school’s existing sports programs would be scholarship sports with revenue-sharing opportunities for athletes, but others would not offer athletic scholarships.
This move comes as Yantko and other Murray State officials pursue ways to expand revenue opportunities through athletics. One idea the university is looking into is Racer Entertainment Village – a proposed entertainment district that would include several MSU sports venues. President Ron Patterson on Friday said his goal is to have information from a feasibility study on the proposal ready to present by the board of regents’ next quarterly meeting in August.
In the near future, Patterson said he’ll also seek the board’s approval for the development of a future holding company for athletics. The University of Kentucky approved a similar proposal last year. Murray State is also exploring the possibility of developing a land lease LLC – a move Patterson said would put the school in rare company among other universities.
Regents also passed the budget for the upcoming fiscal year beginning July 1. The budget includes a 2% cost of living adjustment for faculty and staff. The university is also funding the third phase of raises for eligible employees that were identified in the school’s 2024 compensation study.
Laura Foltz, Murray State’s vice president for finance and administrative services, said the big emphasis areas for the upcoming fiscal year’s budget were academic affairs and personnel. She said the majority of Murray State’s academic affairs units told the school’s president that the biggest thing they needed to be more successful were more employees.
Foltz also pointed out that the nursing unit received larger raises across the board compared to other departments. She said that happened after the nursing department had numerous job applicants turn down offers due to what they viewed as “low-ball” salary offers from Murray State. Foltz said school officials determined it was “mission critical” to have more nursing faculty as Murray State looks to open its new nursing building in the near future. Murray State’s human resources department has generated guidelines that officials can use for “one-time mission-critical instances” like this one, Foltz said, which allowed the school to raise salaries in the nursing unit.
Additionally, Foltz said Murray State is hiring a compensation specialist to evaluate which units are underpaid and what group of employees need to be considered for raises in future budgets.
In other news:
- As part of a way to create a “senior-level administrative team” similar to other public universities in Kentucky, Patterson recommended three senior officials for title changes to reflect their responsibilities. Yantko’s role was elevated to the vice president level to reflect the “changing landscape” and responsibilities involved with college athletics. Tina Bernot was promoted to Vice President for Advancement and External Relations. Don Robertson is now Vice President for Student Affairs and Student Success.
- The board elected a new chair and vice chair for the upcoming school year. David Meinschein – superintendent of Murray Independent Schools – will serve as chair of Murray State’s Board of Regents, succeeding Robbie Fitch. Dr. Matt Price, an OB/GYN at Murray-Calloway County Hospital, will serve as vice chair.
- Patterson announced that Murray State will host the 2027 Pi Kappa Delta national speech and debate championship. That announcement comes after a successful season from the school’s Speech and Debate Union – which secured a national championship for the second year in a row earlier this spring.
- Regents got an overview of the Dunker AI chatbot that Murray State launched earlier this year, and what insights the school can gain from students that interact with the tool.
- Murray State’s Student Government Association is working to set up a meal swipe bank to complement existing food assistance programs for students.
The full board of regents meeting can be streamed on YouTube.
