Bethune-Cookman shuts down all sports through spring, citing 'spike' in COVID-19 cases
Last week, the Bethune-Cookman women's basketball team took the court for the first practice of the fall.
Now, the Lady Wildcats are shut down for the rest of the season, along with every other team at the school.
Late Monday, Bethune-Cookman President Brent Chrite announced that Bethune-Cookman would not participate in any sports through the end of the 2021 spring season, including basketball, softball, baseball, track and field, and football.
In a letter posted on the school's website, Chrite said a "recent spike of COVID-19 positivity rates in the state, across Volusia County and on campus" drove his decision.
"While the decision to opt out of spring competition is the only responsible one for us at this time, it was not made lightly," Chrite said. "We know that this decision greatly impacts our student athletes, our coaching staff, our Marching Wildcats and others, and I will be working with VP Lynn Thompson and his colleagues to minimize and ameliorate the impact of this decision."
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Behune-Cookman now becomes one of the first NCAA Division I institutions to opt out of all sports for the remainder of the year.
The B-CU women's basketball team opened practice last Wednesday, while the men were set to begin on Tuesday. While neither schedule had been finalized, both teams were expected to open the season in the next month.
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference also released spring football schedules for all conference teams last Thursday, with B-CU set to open the season Feb. 27 at North Carolina A&T. The conference announced in July that it would conduct a six-game, conference-only football season beginning next February due to COVID-19.
"We obviously recognize that other institutions may elect to move forward with spring competition," Chrite said. "The decision for us, however, was not a complicated one. The risk premium is simply too high and our priority remains the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff."
Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Lynn Thompson admitted things were going well on campus up until the past few weeks.
"We've administered nearly 6,000 tests since the start of the school year, and up until a little over a week ago, saw remarkably positive results from our testing protocols," he said. "Over the past eight days, however, we've noted a sudden spike in cases on campus, hence this decision. B-CU athletics has survived hurricanes, tornadoes and a myriad of other challenges. This pandemic has affected us all, including me personally.
"Now is not the time for us to roll the balls out and play. It's the time to close ranks and protect our community so that we can remain safe until it's time to play again."
Last week, Chrite announced that the school would be going in a "lockdown" to curb the spread of COVID-19. An 11 p.m. campus-wide curfew was part of the new rules.
The message was posted on Wednesday, and Chrite said the university had more than 30 students isolated and quarantined on campus. Between Friday, Oct. 16 and Wednesday, Oct. 21, they identified 15 positive cases. Before that, the Florida Department of Health reported two positive cases.
The 2020-21 athletic season would have been the 40th and final season for B-CU as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Effective July 2021, the Wildcats will become members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
This story is developing. Check back for more updates.