NCAA council approves change to protect scholarships

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Athletes who become pregnant or have other medical conditions moved closer to NCAA protection of their scholarships under legislation overwhelmingly approved Sunday by the Division I management council.

The council approved not reducing or canceling a scholarship due to injury, illness or medical condition -- including pregnancy -- by a vote of 46-5. The Division I board of directors will consider the change Monday on the final day of the NCAA convention.

If the board adopts the change, then the protection would begin immediately.

"The intention of the proposal is not to take away any of the institutional authority with regard to their own policies and procedures," said Jackie Campbell, chairman of the Division I management council and associate commissioner of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

"Pregnancy is the one people publicize a lot. You saw a lot about that. There are a lot of other things that go on. Students have issues across the board whether an athlete or not that athletes have to deal with."

The council also approved a minor revival of text messaging involving recruits who have signed letters of intent with a college and defeated proposals to allow tennis players to be considered amateurs if they had received less than $10,000 in prize money among 50 pieces of legislation sent to the board.

The other hot topic of this convention will come Monday on the convention's final day when NCAA president Myles Brand presents Georgia president Michael Adams' proposal for an eight-team playoff for the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Brand said he had no idea what would result.

"I will turn to Mike and say, 'Make your presentation.' I don't know where it will go. It's an interesting question he has raised," Brand said.

The legislation to protect athletes' scholarships followed an ESPN report that seven Clemson athletes had abortions in recent years rather than risk losing their scholarships.

It would protect pregnant athletes and also those struggling with a medical condition such as addiction, eating disorder, mononucleosis or depression. Athletes would not be protected if school policy for all students prohibited premarital sex for example.

But they would not lose their scholarships if forced to sign separate documents agreeing to lose a scholarship if becoming pregnant as women at Memphis and Clemson contend they had to sign.

Rutgers softball player Brittany Loisel, a member of the National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, lobbied for the change Saturday before Division I delegates. She called herself the voice of the Clemson athlete who gave up her own child for fear of losing a scholarship.

"Accountability needs to take place here and now by providing these student-athletes the necessary financial protection we need to know our institutions are not only committed to us as student-athletes," she said. "We need to know our institutions are committed to us as people."

Anne Donovan, receiving the NCAA's Silver Anniversary award Sunday, called the legislation a great move.

"Like everything, we would love for it to have happened 20 years ago. The fact they're talking about it and coming up with a plan for it speaks that the NCAA is listening, is observing, is seeing what the issues are and is trying to really help," Donovan said.

Division I delegates had a chance to overturn a ban on text messaging Saturday that failed overwhelmingly.

But the Big Sky Conference sponsored a proposal the management council approved allowing coaches to text athletes signed to attend, relaxing that total ban. Division I vice president David Berst said he doesn't think that solves the problem.

"I think the board agrees there probably is some other management system that someone would be able to come up with better legislation in the future rather than a complete ban. But it'll probably have to be something that the student-athletes support," he said.