Hell No! We Won't Go…. to Division III
A Student-Athlete Speaks Out About Division III Rumors
Kendra Norman
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Letter to the Editor
Recent discussions on campus have indicated that the faculty at Centenary College of Louisiana are in the process of attempting to change from a Division-I athletics to a Division-III athletics institution. This is due to their belief that the athletics program is a financial drain and participation in such activities reduces a student's success in the classroom. By changing to a Division-III athletics institution, no athletic scholarships will be awarded to incoming students, which over the years has been one of the major deciding factors for student-athletes who attend this college. Division-III schools compete in athletics as a non-revenue making, extracurricular activity for students focusing the majority of their time on academics. Therefore, such institutions cannot offer athletic scholarships, they cannot redshirt freshmen and they cannot use endowments or funds whose primary purpose is to benefit their athletic programs.
Centenary College is currently a member of the NCAA Division-I's Summit League Conference. It is the smallest Division-I school in the country but has been increasingly recognized for its rising success in its athletic programs. Centenary swimming's head coach Butch Jordan claims, "Centenary is a unique school. We're the smallest Division I school which sets us apart from the rest because we have committed athletes that work hard on and off the field. If you change to a Division III athletics program, you're going to see a large decrease in commitment and skill in the athletes that come here as well as the coaches."
One of the main reasons a student-athlete will tell you why they signed to Centenary is due to the prestigious honor that comes along with being a Division-I collegiate athlete. Centenary gymnast Laura Loy states that, "Centenary challenges us not only in our sport but in the classroom. I came here because I already knew Centenary had great academics, but the fact that I would have the chance to play a Division I sport was even more of an incentive to come because its more respected than Division III and I believe that my lifetime of training gymnastics would have gone to waste otherwise. I am also afraid that if we become Division III, sports will be cut from the athletic program. Then what for those athletes?" A general consensus among the majority of current student-athletes at Centenary College that aren't seniors is that they will most likely transfer or decline their acceptance into the establishment if this notion is passed. In fact, Jordan believes that "out of the 18 recruits I have signed, I believe that at most, three of them would fulfill their enrollment here if this change happens."
Centenary College is currently a member of the NCAA Division-I's Summit League Conference. It is the smallest Division-I school in the country but has been increasingly recognized for its rising success in its athletic programs. Centenary swimming's head coach Butch Jordan claims, "Centenary is a unique school. We're the smallest Division I school which sets us apart from the rest because we have committed athletes that work hard on and off the field. If you change to a Division III athletics program, you're going to see a large decrease in commitment and skill in the athletes that come here as well as the coaches."
One of the main reasons a student-athlete will tell you why they signed to Centenary is due to the prestigious honor that comes along with being a Division-I collegiate athlete. Centenary gymnast Laura Loy states that, "Centenary challenges us not only in our sport but in the classroom. I came here because I already knew Centenary had great academics, but the fact that I would have the chance to play a Division I sport was even more of an incentive to come because its more respected than Division III and I believe that my lifetime of training gymnastics would have gone to waste otherwise. I am also afraid that if we become Division III, sports will be cut from the athletic program. Then what for those athletes?" A general consensus among the majority of current student-athletes at Centenary College that aren't seniors is that they will most likely transfer or decline their acceptance into the establishment if this notion is passed. In fact, Jordan believes that "out of the 18 recruits I have signed, I believe that at most, three of them would fulfill their enrollment here if this change happens."
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Pat Coleman
posted 6/06/09 @ 6:14 PM CST
"How can Centenary change a program that brings in a quarter of the college's incoming students?"
Easily. You can still have the same number of student-athletes, play the same number of sports (or more!) on many fewer dollars, and actually collect tuition payments from these students rather than pay their way. (Continued…)
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