This email was forwarded to us this afternoon:

Greetings,

I hope this email reaches everyone in great health and wellness. I wanted to email everyone and inform you all that the FIU Athletics Dept has cut the cheerleading program and kept the dance team program for what they say were budget cut issues. We really need everyone in the cheerleading community in support on this one. Here is a link to the petition that we have started http://www.petitiononline.com/fiucheer/petition.html . Below is a letter that we are sending out to everyone in hopes of saving the program. In the last part of the letter you will find the University/FIU Athletics officials we would like everyone to email and contact. Yesterday we have gotten a ton of Local media coverage and support (links to those media outlets are below). With the support of you all we can turn this thing around ASAP. I thank you in advance.

http://cbs4.com/local/fiu.Florida.International.2.1058164.html

http://www.justnews.com/news/19844267/detail.html?dsq=11711607#comment-11711607

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/FIU-Cuts-Nothing-to-Cheer-About.html

http://fiusm.com/news/2009/6/24/cheerleading-program-officially-cut

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/breaking-news/story/1112089.html

Dear FIU Friends, Families, Coaches, Faculty and Fans,

The FIU cheerleaders have continued to be leaders and contributors to the vision of FIU athletics. The cheerleaders have attended games, pep rallies, and other FIU events to support our university. As of Monday June 22, 2009, This FIU beacon of spirit no longer exists. We are asking you, the supporters of FIU, to please raise your voice and show how much the FIU cheerleaders mean to you.

This past year, the FIU cheerleaders ranked 4th in a National Competition. We competed against big time school such as Maryland, Clemson and Louisville. We practice extremely hard and put our blood, sweat and tears into everything we do. In 1998 the FIU cheerleaders won the National Cheerleading competition, and we were already working hard to do the same this year. In reality, we do not need to begin practicing until football begins to cheer at the games, however we had already taken the initiative to start 3 weeks ago to be that much better. We want to be great representatives of the school and work year round to do so. We practice on top of Football games, Men’s Basketball games, Women’s basketball games and do many FIU appearances.

A lot of time FIU gets the reputation of a commuter school with not a lot of on campus involvement. The FIU cheerleaders are exceptions to this rule. They want be involved in FIU and make this school better. Please show your support for the effort and hard work they put in to the school. Please email Athletic Director Pete Garcia [email protected],  Associate Athletic Director Julie Berg [email protected], President Modesto Maidique [email protected], President-designate [email protected], and VP of Student Affairs Rosa Jones [email protected] to show your support on this issue.

Thank You for Your Support,

The FIU Cheerleaders

Yours Truly,

T. S.

_______________________________________

Travis L. Stokes

Cheerleading

Florida International University

Marketing Assistant

Department of Intercollegiate Athletics

Florida International University- UP

Lifetime Alumni Association Member

Florida International University