The NCAA Division III membership Saturday voted to allow all multi-divisional institutions including Rochester Institute of Technology and Union College to apply Division I rules to their Division I programs, including financial aid.
The vote came during the NCAA’s annual meeting in Indianapolis. The vote was 388-18, with 39 abstentions.
The vote immediately allows a full 18 athletic scholarships to be awarded by the men’s and women’s programs at both RIT and Union.
“This is a great day for our department and our hockey programs,” said RIT executive director of athletics Jacqueline Nicholson in a statement. “I’m grateful for the Division III membership’s support of this legislation which will have a profound effect on the lives of our student-athletes and what our teams can accomplish.”
“We are gratified that the NCAA membership approved this measure, which puts Union College and institutions in similar situations on a level playing field with their Division I colleagues,” said Union president David R. Harris. “For Union, being able to offer scholarships will greatly enhance our ability to compete at the highest level in men’s and women’s hockey, and to build on our proud history on the ice.”
RIT and Union were the only schools competing in Division I hockey that were not allowed to offer scholarships. Four Division III institutions had been grandfathered to allow financial aid for their Division I hockey programs: Clarkson, Colorado College, Rensselaer, and St. Lawrence.
“This changes things on many different levels for our teams,” said RIT men’s hockey coach Wayne Wilson. “Our coaches have always done a tremendous job on the recruiting trail finding players who would excel in our program, but the conversation is completely different when you can sit them down and offer the same thing as all the other teams. Decisions don’t have to be made based on finances anymore.”
“We are simply looking to provide the opportunities to our student-athletes and programs consistent with the Division I hockey landscape,” said Union director of athletics Jim McLaughlin.
RIT’s women’s hockey was the last Division III program to elevate to D-I after the NCAA made a moratorium on multi-divisional play permanent.
“I’m excited for the future of our program,” said RIT women’s hockey coach Celeste Brown. “We have already made some significant strides in a short period of time to take our program to the next level. This only accelerates our journey toward where we know we can take this team in the future. It also will help make the women’s game stronger, overall, by creating more opportunities for women to get a scholarship while playing the sport at a premier level.”
Also included in the legislation are Hobart (men’s lacrosse), Franklin & Marshall (wrestling) and MIT (women’s rowing).
