Mounting Deficits Moves WSSU Rams Back to Division II

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) announced on September 11, 2009, that it would inform the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference (MEAC) that the university intends to remain a Division II institution for intercollegiate athletics. The process to remain in Division II will begin immediately, but the school will continue to compete in the MEAC at the Division I level through the 2009-2010 season.

At a special called meeting, the university's Board of Trustees voted unanimously to support the recommendation of Chancellor Donald J. Reaves to bring to a close the reclassification to Division I process that was begun in 2004. Reaves praised the vision of former WSSU chancellors who had supported the move to Division I, but stated that "in the final analysis the resources to complete the reclassification simply were not available, currently nor prospectively, in sufficient amounts".

News of dropping Division I goal stuns, perplexes WSSU athletes

The news that Winston-Salem State will be cutting scholarships in athletics was like rubbing salt into an already wounded football team. The Rams lost to Florida A&M on Thursday night 34-10, and in less than 24 hours, they took another punch to the gut. Julian Gray, an offensive lineman, sat slumped on a bench outside the Thompson Center, finding the news hard to believe. "I came to this program thinking I was playing for a Division I program," Gray said. "And you have other people on our team, like the younger guys, who turned down offers to play Division I to come here."

What really upset many of the players was that not even the coaches knew this was coming. "You can't blame the coaches because they just heard the rumors like everybody else," said Omar Kizzie, a junior wide receiver. "Now we have a bunch of guys that don't know what's going on, or even if they will have a scholarship next year. It's just a bad decision all the way around." Chancellor Donald Reaves, who spoke to the athletes in a meeting on campus yesterday afternoon, acknowledged that a lot of them were upset.

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