When athletes and coaches from four University of Iowa programs are called into a meeting at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, they expect a routine update. What unfolds leaves some angry, others disillusioned.  This episode reconstructs that moment — from the financial pressures behind the decision to the shock and uncertainty that follow. As the reality sets in, athletes are forced to confront what it means to lose not just their sport, but a core part of who they are. 

Producer: Jayce Bertrand

Host & Assoc. Producer: Lance Peterson

Editor: Alayna Larson

Assoc. Producer: Payton Martinez

Discontinued: The Decision That Changed Iowa Athletics

As the pandemic shut down college athletics in 2020, the University of Iowa decided to cut four varsity sports programs, irrevocably changing the lives of dozens of student-athletes. For athletes at any level, their sport is not just what they do — it’s who they are. For college athletes, that connection is inseparable from school pride.

Through interviews with athletes, coaches, attorneys, and journalists, Discontinued explores the fallout of the cuts, from the Title IX lawsuit that challenged it to the lasting questions about belonging and who universities consider expendable. What happens to someone’s sense of self when the sport they’ve committed to since childhood is suddenly taken away?