MEAC cancels fall sports season, no decision on rescheduling

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference announced Thursday that it is suspending all fall sports competition as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

No decision has been made on whether fall sports will be rescheduled for the spring semester. Winter sports are set to proceed as scheduled under the guidance of health and safety professionals.

“We will continue to monitor the data and monitor how the pandemic landscape is,” MEAC Commissioner Dr. Dennis Thomas said.

A press release by the MEAC cited the recent increase in COVID-19 on the East Coast and data showing that minority communities are disproportionately affected. The MEAC consists entirely of historically Black institutions, including North Carolina A&T and N. C. Central.

“Obviously this is an arduous decision because everyone wants to have a fall season for student-athletes, fans and others,” Thomas said. “Part of our responsibility is to ensure the mental and physical health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, and staff is paramount. It is imperative that everyone recognize that is our first and foremost responsibility.”

Howard University President Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick, who is also the Chair of MEAC Council of Presidents and Chancellors, also said in the release that member institutions will continue to plan ongoing engagments with student-athletes in support of their physical and mental health.

Frederick also said that potential financial consequences of not having fall sports had very little impact on the decision.

“The health and safety was a primary driver, and to be quite honest, the only driver,” Frederick said. “Most certainly, we’re going to take some type of a financial hit, but we think the health and safety of our athletes and the staff around them is the thing that’s most important for us, so we needed to make sure that we took care of them.”

North Carolina A&T had four athletes test positive for COVID-19, according to an announcement by the school on Monday. Frederick said that even if member institutions weren’t seeing positive cases, the conference likely would have still arrived at this decision, noting rising case numbers and hospitalizations in some East Coast states.

NCCU released its own statement on MEAC’s decision, signed by Chancellor Johnson O. Akinleye and Athletics Director Ingrid Wicker McCree.

“This decision was reached after thoughtful discussion and advisement by health experts, though we know it is disappointing for the student-athletes who have worked so hard,” the statement read. “We will continue to provide student-athlete well-being services to include academic support, mental health, and strength and conditioning throughout the academic year.”

Thomas said there have been internal discussions about granting fall athletes an extra year of eligibility if they do not end up competing in the 2020-2021 school year, and plan to work with the NCAA on the issue.

In North Carolina, Black individuals account for 24% of the state’s COVID-19 cases despite only making up 22.2% of the population according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Census Bureau.

The MEAC is not the first conference to cancel its fall sports season. The Ivy League, Patriot League and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference will also not have fall sports. Similarly, the National Junior College Athletic Association is moving close-contact fall sports — football, men’s and women’s soccer and court volleyball — to the spring.

This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 2:42 PM.