 "Photo: Courtesy of MEAC")
Signed, sealed, delivered!
On Thursday, Aug. 11, N.C. Central University's athletic department received a letter from the NCAA announcing that they had been granted Division I status and are now eligible to compete for NCAA championships.
After five years of adhering to strict rules and waiting, the Eagles prepare to take flight this year as official members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Dr. Ingrid Wicker-McCree, NCCU Athletic Director, has been with the athletic department for 14 years and has long awaited this move.
"I was just ecstatic and [breathed] a sigh of relief because of the hard work that all the student athletes and coaches and administrators have done over the last five years," said Wicker-McCree.
Between 1980 and 2007, NCCU had been a part of the Division II Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
After amassing eight championships in its last two years in the conference, NCCU applied to the MEAC, the Big South, America East, and the Southern Conference for membership and was accepted into the MEAC, the only expanding conference, in 2009.
During this process NCCU had been independent for four years, meaning they had not belonged to a conference, and competed mainly for pride and wins. This marks the first time NCCU has been able to compete for Division-I championships.
"That's one of the things that I just wanted to educate our fans and just the community on, about the sacrifice that these young student-athletes have made before them," said LeVelle Moton, head coach of the men's basketball team.
Players who have long awaited competing for a championship finally have that opportunity this year.
Senior Dreanna Wallace, a track and field and cross-country student-athlete, competed three years of what seemed like meaningless play during this reclassification process.
"It's much more motivating now that we have something to work towards, winning a championship, and just competing for points period," said Wallace.
All 14 sports will play their conference foes during the regular season and conclude in post-season play in a conference tournament. If they win the tournament, they will play nationally.
"Basketball is about to be it! And I will be at every game," said mass communication senior Candess Carter.
While many fans appear excited about the move, others are less enthusiastic about being in the MEAC.
"I prefer the CIAA," said mass communication associate professor Kenneth Chambers.
"The CIAA tournament is a massive tradition down here. In the CIAA we have traditional rivals, and the alumni and everyone come to the tournament," Chambers said.
"On the other side, I think it was a good move in terms of funding the athletic department."
Goals are set high for athletics as a whole. The athletic department wants to graduate student-athletes, win more than they lose, and run a clean program, according to Wicker-McCree.
"I see us winning MEAC championships on a consistent basis in all of our sports, certain sports making it past the first and second rounds of NCAA championships, our GPA above a 3.0 and our graduation rate at 80 percent for our student-athletes," she said.
"The coaches have done a really good job of finding top student-athletes and I think that will continue," she said.
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