AIB athletes organizing, demand answers about UI merger

Student athletes at AIB College of Business protested in the cold Friday morning, pushing for answers about their school's merger with the University of Iowa.

Director of Athletics Al Dorenkamp called protestors into the gymnasium for a meeting, but many said they still felt uncertainty about the future of their athletic and college careers afterward. No announcements have been released publicly regarding how AIB sports teams will exist once the 1,000-student school becomes University of Iowa-Des Moines.

"They should have given us a year's notice that athletics was going to be phased out. And that puts people in a bad situation, especially the juniors and international students," said Matt Liberty, 21, of Dresden-Ontario, Canada.

Officials would not confirm whether the program would be phased out.

Liberty is a senior, a pitcher on the baseball team and an international student, attending AIB on an athletic scholarship. He said Canadian employers know AIB is an accredited school in the U.S.; that's why he chose it.

"If AIB no longer exists and it's not on that list then it causes questions ... if an employer decides to look into it," Liberty said.

AIB spokeswoman Jane Schorer Meisner said the merger would not devalue an AIB degree.

"Colleges are absorbed with other colleges. It doesn't devalue the degrees. Our students are naturally concerned about their personal situations and you cannot fault them for that," she said. "They will see that this is OK and it's a great opportunity for students."

Meisner said she could not comment on exactly what was happening to the athletic program but said an announcement was coming soon. All athletic scholarships will be honored if athletes stay at AIB and when it becomes part of the UI, she said.

How AIB credits transfer between the University of Iowa and other institutions is still being worked out, Meisner said.

"AIB is working frantically to quickly iron out the details so we can give them accurate and responsible information. Unfortunately, it's taking longer than we would like," Meisner said.

The decision was made to announce the merger before outlining every single detail because chances are, rumors would have gotten out, and now there is an opportunity to involve more people in discussions, Mesiner said.

Dorenkamp declined to comment for this story or discuss what was said during the so-called "non-public" meeting with students Friday.

Jeremy Deemer, a freshman on the AIB men's basketball team, said students plan to protest again next week and attend any public meetings in Iowa City regarding the merger.

MORE: AIB merger to strengthen UI footprint in Des Moines

"We found out from the news so the protest was about athletics being canceled and that we should be notified before the entire state was," Deemer. "I came to AIB to help build a (basketball) program, and to know it's potentially being taken away just like that is heartbreaking."

Deemer said if basketball goes, he will, too.

Edraniel Tookes, 21, just transferred to AIB from Illinois because she wanted a school where she could pursue a business degree and play basketball. Her recruiter said AIB was a place she could do both.

But now she's worried her credits won't transfer if she leaves.

"It puts me in a really tough situation. Am I going to be set back a whole year? I don't even know where to go from here and no one has any answers for that. It seems like our president is trying to dodge us," Tookes said.