Many at Winston-Salem State University were shaken recently when Chancellor Donald Reaves announced that the school would drop its transition to Division I and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference because of financial reasons and return to Division II. That shattered the dreams of many students, student athletes and alumni. Last week, the board of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the CIAA, opened its arms to welcome WSSU back.
The vote by the CIAA board was unanimous. WSSU could compete as soon as next fall if it meets the CIAA bylaws and pays the appropriate fees.
"They have such a deep tradition in this conference going back to the days of the late Big House Gaines," Jimmy R. Jenkins, president of Livingstone College and the chairman of the CIAA board of directors, told the Journal's John Dell.
WSSU competed in the CIAA from 1946 until it left in 2005 to pursue Division I. The CIAA was established in 1912 and is the nation's oldest historically black conference.
We're proud of Winston-Salem State's pursuit of Division I. We're confident they would have competed well at that level. But we're gratified to see WSSU return to the CIAA.
And we'd like to see another proud tradition return -- the annual CIAA basketball tournament in Winston-Salem.
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