March 21, 2023
The effects of the pandemic are still being felt on the entire college and university level. Decreased enrollment due to the pandemic as well as high school level demographic decreases in population continue to wreak havoc on traditional colleges and universities. These schools, especially smaller higher education institutes, have battled decreasing enrollments over the past few years and these types of cost cutting effects can result in a new trend. That trend may include mass expense reductions to remain viable and sports programming can certainly be a target in question moving forward.
We also remember less than two years ago, the men’s volleyball programs at all Northeast Conference schools, including St. Frances Brooklyn, received funding from First Point Fund to contribute to these programs getting off to a good start. It will be interesting to see how the other NEC schools are faring and whether decisions like this one will be in their future. The Six NEC core member institutions are Fairleigh Dickinson, Long Island University, Merrimack, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn and Saint Francis University in Pennsylvania.
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This is an excerpt from the St. Frances Brooklyn press release…
Elimination of Athletics
The St. Francis College Board of Trustees and Leadership are responding to these challenges by acting decisively with plans in place to benefit the College and the students we serve.
Accordingly, the Board of Trustees recently approved a strategic realignment plan which includes the elimination of the College’s NCAA Division I athletics program, effective at the conclusion of the Spring 2023 semester.
We want to acknowledge that SFC has a rich legacy in competitive athletics, and are proud of our Terriers today and in all years past. This difficult decision was guided by a commitment to preserving the College’s 164-year Franciscan mission to provide a high quality and affordable education to working-class and first-generation students.
To ensure that student-athletes can continue their studies at SFC uninterrupted, the College will honor all current academic and athletic scholarships, even though students will no longer be participating in athletics.
Employment for athletics staff and coaches will end at the conclusion of the Spring 2023 semester. The College will provide information, recommendations, and next-step guidance to help ease this transition.
We thank everyone involved in our athletics program for their spirit, dedication, professionalism, and commitment to the College.
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It will be very interesting to see if the athletes at these programs stay in school with their scholarships being honored or if they will transfer to continue to play the sports they love. St. Frances has many foreign recruits on their roster which will make this decision even more complex.
For non-scholarship players, we would expect a mass exodus as players scramble for spots in other programs at all NCAA levels from D1 through D3 as well as NAIA. Men’s volleyball remains one of the fastest growing sports at the high school and collegiate level, especially with great organizations like the First Point Fund helping programs get started nationwide.
This story is still breaking. We would love to hear comments and thoughts from our readers.