NCCU OKs move
School sees D-1 helping academics
 
Rachel Carter and Jaymes Powell Jr., Staff Writers

N.C. Central hopes climbing up a division in athletics will pull up its academic level as well.
On Wednesday, the school's Board of Trustees voted to exit NCAA Division II and join Division I. The move, which has been considered for three years, means N.C. Central will leave its Division II home in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association after the 2006-07 school year. The Eagles plan to apply to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

Chancellor James Ammons said his school competes against universities such as Howard, Hampton and N.C. A&T -- all in the MEAC -- when pursuing top students.

"Those are our competitors when we go out to recruit National Achievement Scholars, National Merit Scholars, National Hispanic Scholars," Ammons said. "By having another venue, say a sporting event, where we have an opportunity to go into those markets, I think the attractiveness of our institution will be communicated." 
 
The MEAC, with schools in Delaware, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C., reaches into areas that the CIAA does not, and N.C. Central hopes to attract students from new areas.
"Academically, it means that we're going to have a larger pool of applicants," said Cressie Thigpen Jr., N.C. Central's chairman of the board. "Our SAT scores are very competitive with schools in the MEAC; our graduation rate is better than the MEAC schools. But the one thing we would get is more exposure."

This will not be the first time N.C. Central changes conferences.

N.C. Central was in the CIAA but left to become a charter member of the MEAC, which began play in 1971. The school rejoined the CIAA in 1980.

The move to Division I has been pushed by Ammons and athletics director Bill Hayes and appears to have broad support at the school. No trustee voted against it, the Faculty Senate was for it and students have been in favor of the move.

In Wednesday's trustee meeting, 11 of the board's 13 members -- two were absent -- voted to make the change.

After the vote, audience members broke into applause. Hayes clapped his hands and pumped his fist three times.

Achamyeleh Debela, the chairman of the Faculty Senate, said the faculty supports the move.

Also supporting it was Renee Clark, the student body president and a voting member of the board. She said she has found many students around the country have never heard of N.C. Central, despite its size.

Another student, junior Tasha Andrews, echoed that concern.

"North Carolina Central University is a really excellent school, but I think it gets overlooked for various reasons," Andrews said. "I don't know if it's because of the area or because it's an [historically black college or university]. So, it's about time we got the recognition."

Still, the CIAA has been good to N.C. Central. The Eagles won three of the five fall championships this season -- women's cross country, football and volleyball -- and host North Alabama in the second round of the NCAA football playoffs on Saturday.

But N.C. Central officials are confident the Eagles will return to the MEAC, which will hold its men's and women's basketball tournaments at the RBC Center in Raleigh the next three years.

Tuesday, MEAC commissioner Dennis Thomas said he couldn't comment on N.C. Central's move to Division I but added that "I have a lot of respect and admiration for N.C. Central."

N.C. Central will be in the CIAA for the 2006-07 athletics year and then will begin a transition period to Division I. The school could become a full member of Division I in 2011.

In September, a consultant told a board committee that moving to the MEAC would cost NCCU $5.4 million in annual operating expenses. In 2004, the school spent $2.228 million. The MEAC figure is based on the 2004 expenses.

To fund the difference, the school will have to raise student athletics fees, make more money through marketing and advertising and through guarantees, which is the money a school pays an opponent to come its home site.

Students pay $345 in athletics fees this year. That could rise to $550 by the end of the process.

The CIAA is looking at losing N.C. Central and Winston-Salem State, which is in its last season of CIAA play.

"I'm not sure if it will have a significant impact," St. Augustine's president Dianne Boardley Suber said of NCCU's move. "N.C. Central, like Winston-Salem, has done their due diligence and determined that that's a good move for their institution. I think the CIAA complement of schools will continue to grow and be a strong conference."

St. Augustine's athletics director George Williams said quality will always draw attention, regardless of division.

"It's about performance," Williams said. "This is a business; whether you're in D-I, D-II or D-III, if you perform well, then the notoriety is going to come anyway. I'm a D-II, and I think I've got one of the best track programs in the USA."

CIAA commissioner Leon Kerry did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Staff writer Rachel Carter can be reached at 829-8953 or rcarter@newsobserver.com