Days after Alabama State President Gwendolyn Boyd released a statement explaining her reasoning for voting against four ineligible schools participating in the SWAC Tournament, Jackson State President Carolyn Meyers followed suit.
According to a statement she released to the media on Tuesday, Meyers said her decision was “about being committed to our scholar athletes.”
Meyers went on to say that JSU athletes were able to improve academically after the football team was banned from qualifying for the SWAC Championship game in 2011 for fail failing to meet APR requirements.
“We were penalized two years ago because our Academic Progress Rate was below the standard, but now we have no academic issues with any of our athletic programs,” Meyers said. “What we have done to improve our student-athletes’ academic performance is something the other schools can do as well.”
Boyd, who along with Meyers, were the only two dissenting voters against allowing Southern, Grambling State, Mississippi Valley State and Arkansas Pine-Bluff to play in the upcoming conference tournament, said her rationale was based on “support of academics as the number one priority for all student-athletes.”
Last week the presidents voted 8-2 in favor of the measure.
The SWAC Tournament will be held March 11-15 in Houston, Texas.
