Ivy League cancels winter sports for 2020-21 season

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Consistent with its commitment to safeguard the health and wellbeing of student-athletes, the greater campus community and general public, the Ivy League Council of Presidents has decided that league schools will not conduct intercollegiate athletics competition in winter sports during the 2020-21 season. In addition, the Ivy League will not conduct competition for fall sports during the upcoming spring semester. Lastly, intercollegiate athletics competition for spring sports is postponed through at least the end of February 2021.

The unanimous decisions by the Ivy League Council of Presidents follow extended consideration of options and strategies to mitigate the transmission of the COVID-19 virus, an analysis of current increasing rates of COVID-19 - locally, regionally and nationally - and the resulting need to continue the campus policies related to travel, group size and visitors to campus that safeguard the campus and community.

Athletics training opportunities and practices for enrolled student-athletes will be permitted, provided they are structured in accordance with each institution's procedures and applicable state and local regulations. This approach is consistent with the phased approach implemented by the Ivy League for all sports in the fall 2020 term.

The Council will continue to closely monitor and evaluate the public health climate and consider changes to policies when warranted in order to return to more normal campus operations, including potential spring intercollegiate athletics competition.

Winter and fall sport student-athletes will not lose a season of Ivy League or NCAA eligibility, whether or not they enroll. Students who wish to pursue competition during a fifth-year of undergraduate education at their home institution, if permitted, or as a graduate student elsewhere will need to work with their institutions in accordance with campus policy to determine their options beyond their current anticipated graduation date.

The Ivy League Council of Presidents offered the following joint statement:
Throughout the last nine months, we have asked our campus communities to make extraordinary adjustments in order to do our part in combating the global pandemic and to safeguard the health and wellbeing of our students, faculty members, staff and the communities in which they live and work.

Regrettably, the current trends regarding transmission of the COVID-19 virus and subsequent protocols that must be put in place are impeding our strong desire to return to intercollegiate athletics competition in a safe manner.

Student-athletes, their families and coaches are again being asked to make enormous sacrifices for the good of public health -- and we do not make this decision lightly. While these decisions come with great disappointment and frustration, our commitment to the safety and lasting health of our student-athletes and wider communities must remain our highest priority.

We look forward to the day when intercollegiate athletics -- which are such an important part of the fabric of our campus communities -- will safely return in a manner and format we all know and appreciate.

Ivy League Council of Presidents
Christina Paxson, Brown University
Lee Bollinger, Columbia University
Martha Pollack, Cornell University
Philip Hanlon, Dartmouth College
Lawrence Bacow, Harvard University
Amy Gutmann, University of Pennsylvania
Christopher Eisgruber, Princeton University
Peter Salovey, Yale University

About the Ivy League
The Ivy League stands at the pinnacle of higher education and Division I athletics, rooted in the longstanding, defining principle that intercollegiate athletics competition should be "kept in harmony with the essential educational purposes of the institution." Unrivaled in its legacy, The Ivy League provides the true test of academic and co-curricular rigor - fostering an enduring culture that celebrates a storied-tradition, thrives on shared values and holds paramount the academic and personal growth of students.

Consistently ranked as the top academic conference and with more national championships than any other collegiate athletic conference (287 team, 546 individual), The Ivy League showcased 98 nationally-ranked programs in 2018-19 and prides itself on sponsoring 33 sports, the highest number of any NCAA conference, with more than 8,000 student-athletes competing annually. The League's world-renowned schools - Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale - serve as the standard bearers for inspiring and transforming student-athletes to boldly take on the world's challenges and lead lives of great impact.

For more information, please visit IvyLeague.com.