Corey Jewart, Director of Athletic Communications, sent this message to student athletes announcing the suspension of intercollegiate competition for the fall semester.
The Centennial Conference has announced that intercollegiate competition will be suspended for the fall semester as member institutions seek to ensure the health and safety of students, faculty, staff, and communities amid the unprecedented challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the conference presidents will reevaluate the decision by the end of September, they have determined that football will not be played in the fall. The Centennial Conference will explore the possibility of shifting certain fall sports, including football, to the spring semester.
The decision to suspend competition this fall did not come lightly and was diligently researched and discussed by the Presidents Council with consultation from conference officials, medical personnel, athletic directors, faculty, and campus administration. The perceived risks and consequences associated with the resumption of intercollegiate travel and competition proved too great, at least in the immediate term, given the continued presence of COVID-19 and the health and safety efforts each school is undertaking on their campuses.
“While every school in the conference regrets the need to suspend our fall athletics season, this decision was made with the understanding that it is in the best interest of the health, safety, and well-being of our student-athletes, their families, and our broader campus community at this critical juncture,” said President Bob Iuliano. “Gettysburg College has long believed in the power of intercollegiate athletics to help shape students into the leaders our world needs—those who can bridge difference and collaborate with others to achieve a common goal. I am confident that our teams will continue to challenge and uplift one another in the months ahead, and that this essential learning will continue to take root in our student-athletes, albeit in new and creative ways. I look forward to reassessing this decision in September, with the benefit of the experiences on our campuses and in society at large.”
Although intercollegiate competition has been suspended for the fall, varsity sports will be permitted to engage in certain activities with their teams, such as strength and conditioning training and instruction on technique, within the framework set out by the NCAA’s Core Principles of Resocialization of Collegiate Sport and guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and state and local governments.
Gettysburg will start classes on August 17, with November 20 slated as the last day of classes. Final exams will be completed online from November 30 through December 6. Read more on Gettysburg’s plan for the upcoming 2020-2021 academic year.