The Division III Presidents Council approved the blanket waiver recommendation from the Division III Management Council on Wednesday.
The blanket waiver allows student-athletes to compete up to the established dates of competition/contest maximums without being charged a season of intercollegiate participation or a term of attendance for any term (semester/quarter) during the 2020-21 academic year in which they are eligible for competition.
“This one-time waiver provides our students the flexibility and clarity now to make the necessary decisions for their academic and athletic experiences,” said Tori Murden McClure, chair of the Presidents Council and president at Spalding. “We continue to see the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic is having on our student-athletes and membership, and the Presidents Council unanimously concluded this recommendation was appropriate.”
The recommendation does not serve as a rationale for future reduced enrollment by student-athletes. Student-athletes benefiting from this waiver are expected to adhere to full-time enrollment requirements in current and future academic years, consistent with the Division III philosophy.
Almost three-quarters of the Division III conferences recommended the season-of-participation blanket waiver, and it also was supported by several governance committees, including the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, before the Management Council approved the recommendation to the Presidents Council.