Two athletic conferences, comprised primarily of historically Black colleges and universities, have not moved scheduled championship events out of North Carolina as the NCAA has. This comes in the wake of the state’s passage of a controversial law restricting transgender bathroom use and impacting LGBT civil rights. However, both said Thursday that the matter still is under review.
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is scheduled to hold its men’s and women’s outdoor track and field championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, next May. Commissioner Dennis E. Thomas said in a phone interview that the association’s presidents and chancellors are currently reviewing whether they should move the championships from North Carolina.
“I think the NCAA made the absolute right call, and I also think the ACC made the right call,” said Thomas, referring to the NCAA’s announcement Monday that seven tournaments scheduled for the 2016-17 academic year would be relocated from Charlotte as a result of the legislation known as HB2. On Tuesday, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) announced that it would move eight championships from North Carolina this year. The ACC’s decision was a particularly strong statement, as it is headquartered in North Carolina and four of its 15 members are located in the state.
“Intercollegiate athletic competition is about providing a good environment for our student-athletes to participate,” said Thomas.
Earlier this week, the Charlotte-based Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) said that it did not plan to change the location of any of the 10 championships scheduled to be held in North Carolina this academic year.
The CIAA has strong ties to the Tar Heel State. Of the CIAA’s 12 member institutions, eight are located in North Carolina. In 2015, CIAA moved its headquarters from Hampton, Virginia, to Charlotte. On its website, the CIAA touts the economic impact it has had on North Carolina, including what it says is a $325 million impact on the city of Charlotte alone over the past 10 years. Chowan University is the lone non-HBCU among the CIAA’s 12 members.
Despite the CIAA’s announcement on Tuesday, the conversation is not over yet, according to CIAA Board of Directors Chairman and Johnson C. Smith University President Ronald L. Carter.
