CIAA Championship Postponed CIAA Emergency Meeting

Press release courtesy of  CIAA

Aaron Williams

Contributor

Hampton, VA – November 16 – This evening, Central Intercol­legiate Athletic Association (CIAA®) Commissioner Jacqie Carpenter and the CIAA board of directors convened an emer­gency conference call to discuss Friday’s events which resulted in the cancellation of today’s CIAA Football Championship.

Based upon available informa­tion, and in the best interest of the conference and its member-institutions, the CIAA board of directors declared Virginia State University ineligible to participate in the 2013 football postseason.

Yesterday, concurrent with the CIAA Football Championship luncheon, an incident occurred that involved student-athletes from Virginia State Univer­sity and Winston-Salem State University. After consulting with the appropriate stakehold­ers, the CIAA cancelled today’s Football conference champion­ship. The Championship will not be resched­uled.

Addi­tion­ally, the Board affirmed the following:

•The CIAA and its member-institutions strongly condemn all acts of violence that impair in any way the safety, enjoyment and holistic experience of its student-athletes, administrators and followers in any way.

•The CIAA regards the safety and well-being of its student-athletes, administrators and followers to be of the utmost importance.

•The CIAA values, respects and is committed to the history and tradition of the conference, including its strength and repu­tation as a collection of institu­tions committed to the highest standards of judgment and behavior toward each other – on and off the field of competition.

The board of directors autho­rized Commissioner Carpenter and her designees, to conduct an investigation and report her recommendations regarding further action to the board of directors.

Commissioner Carpenter commented that the investiga­tion is ongoing and the results and recommendations will be provided to the board of direc­tors in as expedient a timeline as possible.

Winston-Salem, NC- A peaceful pre-game ceremony on the campus of Winston-Salem State University turned into a fiasco. The players from the opposing team assaulted the university’s lead quarterback in a bathroom during the conference luncheon on the eve of the champi­onship game.

“We don’t know a lot of what hap­pened, but we do know our starting quarterback, Rudy Johnson, was beaten up and he didn’t beat himself up.” told WSSU Chancellor Donald Reeves to the Winston-Salem Journal.

Johnson left the conference center with a bloody nose and a fully closed and swollen eye. The 6-2 junior from San Diego, CA has since been released from a local hospital ac­cording the Winston-Salem police department.

It was reported from several anony­mous sources that five Virginia State players were responsible for the restroom scuffle. However, the team’s third-leading tailback, Lamont Daniel Britt, a 5-10 sophomore and Virginia native, was arrested Friday afternoon for a misdemeanor assault charge prior to admitting his involvement.

Jacqie Carpenter, conference com­missioner, released this statement Friday at 6:55 p.m. EST:

“…On the eve of such an important weekend for dozens of our student-athletes, many of whom have waited a lifetime for such a moment, we are left to focus instead on what might have been.

Our singular focus is on the safety and security of the Central Intercol­legiate Athletic Association’s (CIAA) student-athletes and those who follow them. It is important that ev­eryone involved in the CIAA embody our mission every day by acting as upstanding individuals on and off the field. We must work together to hold each other to higher standards of responsible judgment and con­duct because we must demand that if we are to succeed.

We did not make this decision lightly, as its impact is far and wide – affecting our student-athletes, alumni, fans, sponsors and more. But the CIAA has long had policies to encourage responsible behavior, and must consider what is neces­sary to assure days like today are not repeated, ever.”

The conference volleyball cham­pionship games were postponed correspondingly.

The CIAA will work cooperatively with the NCAA in regards to plans for the participating schools in the upcoming Division II playoffs next week.