Fordham In The Same Class As Alabama?
Fordham Football just completed one of the greatest seasons in Fordham history, finishing up 12-2 with its first ever home NCAA FCS Championship playoff game victory over Sacred Heart. However, Fordham sports have also proven that the NCAA does not only drop the hammer on the big boys, but on the smaller schools as well.
Just recently the NCAA Committee on Infractions (“Committee”) issued its findings and found that Fordham committed major violations of NCAA legislation. More specifically, the Committee found Fordham to have impermissibly awarded athletically-related financial aid to numerous prospective student-athletes prior to their full-time enrollment at the University. NCAA Bylaw 15.2.8.1.4-(b) stipulates that in order for a student-athlete to be enrolled at the university he/she must be enrolled in at least six credits.
Prospective student-athletes were enrolling in six credit hours initially, only to drop three credits at some point within the summer session. In 2007 the NCAA pondered changing the required summer hours to three and apparently this created confusion at Fordham, whereby the Athletics Compliance Office saw no harm in the student-athletes dropping three credits. However, the proposed amendment was never implemented thus resulting in Fordham providing financial aid to 87 prospective student-athletes without full-time enrollment during the summer sessions of 2008 through 2011.
As a result of the aforementioned violations, the Committee penalized Fordham as follows:
Public reprimand and censure.
-
Two years of probation from November 26, 2013 through November 25, 2015.
-
A fine of $20,000.00 paid to the NCAA (i.e., $5,000.00 per year for each year of the violations).
-
The academic advisor, director of compliance, and other on-campus personnel shall attend the 2013 NCAA regional rules seminars.
-
Within six months, the institution’s athletics department shall undergo a comprehensive compliance review by an outside agency with athletics compliance expertise.
Click Here to Read the Full NCAA Infraction Report