The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- November 8, 1999

Presidents' meetings stress legislative matters

Board of Directors rescinds religious-conflict waivers

BY GARY T. BROWN
STAFF WRITER

CHICAGO -- A waiver provision regarding the accommodation of championships schedules due to religious conflicts that had been in place for only one year has been rescinded by the Division I Board of Directors.

The Board, meeting October 28, approved Proposal No. 99-64, which eliminates the opportunity for a sports committee to obtain a waiver of the religious-conflict rule if it feels that moving the dates of competition to accommodate an institution with a written policy precluding competition on a particular day for religious reasons would unduly disrupt the championship.

The change was recommeded by the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet and was approved by the Division I Management Council at its October meeting. Because the proposal deals with a Bylaw 31 provision, it is not subject to the membership comment period and is effective immediately.

The change had been gaining momentum in recent months. In addition to supporting the proposal in September, the cabinet had withdrawn waivers that previously had been granted to the Division I Women's Basketball and Women's Soccer Committees, both of which conduct their championship games on Sunday. And both the Council and the Board agreed that the issue of access for a team that earned the opportunity to compete in a championship outweighed the logistical concerns of rescheduling the event on short notice.

The waiver process had been adopted last year after heavy debate. Proposal No. 98-32, which was adopted by the Board in April 1998, eliminated the requirement of adjusting a championship schedule to accommodate institutions with policies against Sunday competition, but 99 schools called for an override of the legislation.

The total was one shy of the number needed to suspend the legislation, but enough to require the Board to revisit its decision in August 1998. The Board did so, amending the legislation to accommodate schools with policies against competition on any particular day for religious reasons, while establishing the waiver provision for sports committees that felt such accommodation would harm the integrity of the event.

The adoption of Proposal 99-64, however, eliminates that option and requires all schools with written religious policies to be accommodated.

The Board also adopted Proposal No. 99-94 in order to establish procedures for those schools to submit their policies on an annual basis.

Basketball issues

The Board also discussed basketball issues, including a group of proposals from the Division I Working Group to Study Basketball Issues.

The package, including several amendments from Division I conferences, had been approved by the Management Council, but only for the purposes of distribution to the membership for comment and without taking a substantive position on the package as a whole or any individual proposal.

The proposals will undergo the 60-day comment period before receiving additional review at a Division I forum at the January Convention. In addition, conferences will be given until mid-December to submit alternative proposals, which also will be sent out for comment.

The entire package will be reviewed for a second time by the Management Council in April, with an anticipated return to the Board for action later that month.

The Board also reviewed action the Management Council had taken earlier regarding gender identification of the Final Four.

The Board noted that the Management Council had recommended that the Association trademark the term "Men's Final Four" as the primary brand for that event, to distinguish it from the Women's Final Four; and to direct the national office staff, in conjunction with trademark attorneys, to make use of the term "Final Four" to protect the Association's ownership of that trademark.

Based on advice from legal counsel, the Board agreed to substitute the following language that it feels does not substantively alter the Management Council's intent of using the terms "Men's Final Four" and "Women's Final Four" consistently and permitting the phrase "Final Four" to refer to the men's and/or women's championship when a gender reference is not necessary:

"The term 'Men's Final Four' should be used and trademarked consistent with the use of 'Women's Final Four,' and the Association should continue the use of 'Final Four' for either championship, in a manner recommended by national office staff and legal counsel to protect the Association's ownership and trademarks."

Other legislation

In addition to the two proposals regarding Sunday competition, the Board adopted 23 legislative proposals that had been forwarded from the Division I Management Council. One of the more significant is Proposal No. 99-33, which specifies that a new championship may be established in a women's sport if the minimum number of sponsoring institutions (40) exists for one academic year (rather than for two consecutive academic years). The proposal becomes effective August 1, 2000, and would permit the establishment of championships for women's ice hockey and water polo for the 2000-01 academic year.

The Board also acted on part of Proposal No. 98-107, a revision to the women's basketball recruiting calendar that had been approved at the Board's April meeting but had received 72 requests for override. The part of the proposal in question concerned the elimination of a separate evaluation period for the AAU Women's National Championship.

The Board rescinded that part of the proposal (effective April 1, 2000), an action that will be circulated to the membership and is subject to a new override period.

Thirteen proposals the Board adopted are effective immediately, including: