I attended Southwestern Adventist University (SWAU) three years ago on a baseball scholarship. While playing during a varsity game, I injured my rotator cuff.
I was told (by my coach and team trainer) to not attend games, as they could only allow so many players on the roster (and thus in the dugout).
So I didn't attend the game, and the next week, I got my monthly statement saying that I now owed $7,000. I went to the student finance office, and never got a credible answer.
I got answers such as "we're canceling all scholarships" and "we're only canceling baseball scholarships" and "the school is so much in debt that we can't honor any sports scholarships."
This was redicilious. I went and talked to the coach, who said that my scholarship clearly stated that, "if the player does not suit for a minimum of one (1) game, it is the coaches discretion to remove the player from the team, therefore forfeiting any scholarships or other benefits gained from serving on the team."
None of the above was included in my scholarship or legal papers given to me at the time I signed the scholarship. Only in a revised edition did it state it in there (my papers did not have a disclaimer about making changes to the contract without notice).
While figuring out what I needed to do, I got midterm grades, and was suprised to see an "F" under Varsity Baseball. This was insane because I did not miss one practice before my injury, and suited up for every game. I attempted to get my coach and the student records office to change this to a "Withdrawal" to no avail.
The next week I got a call from the coach of the team asking me to "stop playing games" and come back to the team. He wanted me to suit up and play, even though my injury would not permit me to play for another month, even though he had given me an "F" for a grade, and, above all else, he was the one that cancelled my scholarship!
Later that school year, SWAU cancelled the sports program and cancelled all scholarships to all players (because they were over 6 million in debt). They were decided between two programs to cancel: athletics or art. The art department has two staff members and eight majors, the athletics department has nearly 20 staff members and 250 students involved in it.
The reason given was because the administration believed "the art department caters to more students than the athletics department, and more students are involved in the art department than the athletics department." (Please note, those numbers I gave above are NOT exagerated in ANY way)
It was simple to see that they were trying to save money by not having to honor the scholarships from the athletics department, and releasing those faculty and staff members from the athletics department.
I never paid the $7,000, so they sold my account to a bank in Arlington. This was not permitted by the regulations stated in any legal papers the school uses. The bank in Arlington cancelled the account, and returned it to SWAU (after threatening them with a lawsuit).
I led a class-action suit against the school (with my uncle, a lawyer) and won in the Texas courts. We recieved not only the money taken from us by the cancelling of our scholarships, we also recieved $15,000 (each) in damages.
I just want to warn any Adventist (or non) who thinks SWAU to be a good school that they do try to screw over their students. Most of the time you won't even know who to go to, and they'll continue to charge you 26.5% interest on your bill (at $7,000, this is quite a sum).
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