Uphill Battle for HBCU Athletes

HAMPTON, Virginia  --  It was striking, yet not particularly surprising, that sports teams from historically black colleges and universities made up the vast majority of those the National Collegiate Athletic Association banned from postseason play next year because of poor academic performance. The National Collegiate Athletic Association itself recognizes that the institutions face extra challenges: When the NCAA voted to raise academic standards in October 2011, it gave HBCU’s and other “low-resource institutions” an extra year to come into compliance (they have until 2016-17). The association has also dedicated about $6 million over the next several years to help those institutions meet the new standards.

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William Harvey, president of Hampton University and a member of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, wrote the proposal that led to the NCAA giving HBCUs more time and money to meet the new standard. While he’s pleased with the support and believes HBCUs will adjust accordingly, he had advocated for an extra three years to transition, not the one year that the NCAA allowed.

However, Harvey praised the NCAA’s financial support, which awards $300,000 to six different HBCUs for academics each year for three years. Through the pilot project, created in 2012 and called the Accelerating Academic Success Program, institutions can apply for funding via a detailed submission, requiring presidential involvement, that includes “concrete measurements for success.” Where the money goes depends on the individual needs of the applicant – for example, one might need to hire more academic advisers, while another might want to buy iPads to keep athletes in touch with professors when they’re on the road.

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