How students there tolerate this is insane — they've been dropping spending on students and increasing it on athletics — to the tune of massive subsidies — paid for by those students on whom they're spending less money

On Jan. 26, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that cutting men's soccer and other cost-saving measures by Cunningham had paid off in 2020, providing the UC Athletic Department with the "largest single-year surplus in at least 15 years." As the Enquirer's headline put it, "Bearcats in the Black: UC Athletics Reports $7.7 Million Surplus Despite COVID-19 Effects."

There was just one problem: the UC Athletic Department did not finish 2020 "in the black," according to its NCAA Revenue and Expense report. The department actually had a deficit of more than $25.2 million. Records show UC officials quietly covered the deficit and created the "surplus" by using $32.9 million in tuition and general fund money – a record subsidy for the athletic department.

. . .

A full-time undergraduate student who attended UC for the four years from 2016 through 2019 paid more than $5,000 to subsidize deficits in the UC Athletic Department, records show.

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McNay said UC officials "are hiding their deficits" while quietly forcing students to pay for them.

"Think about this," he said. "The students who are taking out loans to cover their expenses is money that UC uses for their personal business. Basically, students are paying the loans that UC should be paying."