WSSU is returning home...

[EPJr]

WSSU trustees vote to stop move to Division I

By John Dell | Journal Reporter

Published: September 11, 2009

By John Dell
JOURNAL REPORTER

Winston-Salem State University has stopped its drive to Division I.
The decision to continue to compete in Division II and rejoin the CIAA was made Friday afternoon, by the school's board of trustees at a specially called meeting on campus.
Chancellor Donald Reaves, who has researched the move to Division I over the last 18 months, presented a detailed resolution that the board unanimously approved.
"This has been a difficult decision," Reaves told the board. "…but it's time to move on."
Since leaving the CIAA and starting the transition to Division I five years ago, WSSU's athletics department has lost more than $6 million. Reaves projected that the deficit would grow to $15 million by 2012.
Reaves said that the university's continued funding of the athletics program was taking away from academic endeavors.

Full Story....
http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009 ... ivision-i/

[clenz]

Doesn't WSSU compete D1 basketball though?

[Fresno St. Alum]

NCCU in one day WSSU out the next. Now Savannah St. who was a shoe in to be the 14th member is gonna get screwed again

[EPJr]

NCCU in one day WSSU out the next. Now Savannah St. who was a shoe in to be the 14th member is gonna get screwed again

just as well they also need to go back to D2

[danefan]

Doesn't WSSU compete D1 basketball though?

Their entire athletic department is going back down to DII.

Its a good move IMO. They could have taken the easy road and cut football to save money and try to play DI basketball.

[danefan]

NCCU in one day WSSU out the next. Now Savannah St. who was a shoe in to be the 14th member is gonna get screwed again

Mark it down - Savanahh St. will be in the PFL within 2 years tops.

[dgreco]

think they will give up their schollies, especially now that they are turning the program around.

[ChetSteadman]

I live in Winston Salem and this is a good move, IMO. There's little to no support from the community for their programs, save their alumni. Nearly everything in this town revolves around Wake Forest. Casual fans go there on Saturdays instead of WSSU. Businesses want their name attached to the Deacons instead. This town is full of lawyers from Wake and tobacco people from Reynolds - both of which send money nearly exclusively to Wake. WSSU also got in some pretty serious trouble with the UNC system about a year ago dealing with financial aid and had to pay $13mil in penalties and back aid. That cut a huge amount of their marketing budget.

[BlackFalkin]

WOW, they might as well cut football & focus on d1 basketball.

[TwinTownBisonFan]

sad to see this from the "more FCS teams is a good thing" place - but based on what you guys are saying this was probably best for the school... there seems to be a glut of cfb teams in the carolinas/virginia that they have to compete with

[HIU 93]

NCCU in one day WSSU out the next. Now Savannah St. who was a shoe in to be the 14th member is gonna get screwed again

SSU was not a shoe in, and will not.- let me change that- sh0ould not- be allowed to join the MEAC. This is good for the MEAC, WSSU, and the CIAA.

[clenz]

sad to see this from the "more FCS teams is a good thing" place - but based on what you guys are saying this was probably best for the school... there seems to be a glut of cfb teams in the carolinas/virginia that they have to compete with

I want as many FCS teams as we can get, but not at the expense of the school/teams.

[Mountaineer]

WSSU headed back to the CIAA

By John Dell
JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: October 3, 2009

The welcome-back mat is officially out for Winston-Salem State.

The board of directors of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association voted yesterday, at its fall meeting in Cary, to allow WSSU back into the conference it left four years ago.

WSSU changed course in its transition to Division I and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference on Sept. 11 and decided to stay in Division II for financial reasons. Chancellor Donald Reaves said at the time that the goal was to be re-admitted to the CIAA as quickly as possible.

Jimmy R. Jenkins, the president of Livingstone College and the chairman of the CIAA board of directors, said that the vote was unanimous.

"The board did accept Winston-Salem State back into the CIAA, and they will be back in once they comply with all the conditions in the CIAA bylaws," Jenkins said.

Jenkins said that having WSSU back is a win-win situation because of its tradition.

"They have such a deep tradition in this conference going back to the days of the late Big House Gaines," Jenkins said. "And for t hem to come back into the CIAA, it's like a part of the family returning after being away for a little while."

The addition of WSSU will give the CIAA 13 schools, with Lincoln also joining for 2010-11.

WSSU, which competed in the CIAA from 1946 until 2005, could be eligible to compete for CIAA championships as early as next fall. First, it will have to reduce scholarships in football and basketball to get to the Division II minimum.

http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009 ... -football/