Solving the Division III Athletic Financial Aid Mystery 133
ILLICIT FINANCIAL AID
CASTS SHADOW ON
DIVISION III
from the NCAA NewsThe Division III subcommittee
of the NCAA President’s Com-
mission is presently consider-
ing restructuring in the areas of
governance, membership, and
championships, in addition to
strengthening Division III trans-
fer-eligibility legislation.
After reading the August 2,
1996, memorandum from the
chair of the subcommittee, it is
apparent that a sizeable part of
its agenda deals with providing
fair competition within the Divi-
sion III membership. Though the
committee’s structural proposal
for governance does include a
“committee on eligibility and
infraction,” there was no men-
tion of any emphasis on elimi-
nating a major cause of our tilted
playing field, that cause being
illegal financial aid given to Divi-
sion III student athletes.
Whether it is because there
are no television contracts or
no large amounts of money
involved, there seems to be
either a naïve assumption that
financial aid violations do not
occur at the Division III level or
a lack of desire to resolve or even
acknowledge the problem.
Well, there is a problem. It is of
significant dimensions and not
much is being done about it.
The regulations concerning
financial aid for student ath-
letes are defined clearly in the
NCAA Manual. Bylaw 15.01.10
states that Division III institu-
tions shall award financial aid
to student athletes only on the
basis of financial need shown by
the recipient. Bylaw 15.4 delin-
eates the situations in which
athletic ability is not allowed
to be a criterion for awarding
financial aid.
Yet, in the name of winning,
some Division III coaches and
administrations are sacrificing
their personal and professional
integrity, as well as putting
the reputation of their schools
at risk, by awarding excessive
financial aid to student athletes
under the guise of leadership,
merit, or presidential (or other
inventive titles) scholarships.
No matter what the competi-
tive level or reward for winning,
these violations of the financial
aid rules have no justification.
The present Division III adminis-
trative restructuring process pro-
vides the NCAA with a great and
timely opportunity to increase
the emphasis on dealing with
these violations and those who
commit them.
It is also our responsibility as
coaches and administrators to
deal with the rule breakers. We
are supposed to be builders of
character, examples of commit-
ment, and role models for the
acceptance of responsibility.
We know violations are
occurring. Many of us know
some who are guilty. Yet, for
some reason closely akin to the
misguided principle of “honor
among thieves,” we have
allowed and abetted behavior
we would not accept from our
players or children.
Chris Murphy,
Head Basketball Coach
Maine Maritime Academy