Winston-Salem State Gains Membership Approval

NCAA and CIAA Board of Directors Grant Division II and Conference Membership, Respectively

August 6, 2010

Hampton, VA…The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Board of Directors, have granted Winston-Salem State University full Division II membership and CIAA conference admittance; beginning this athletic/academic season.
 
With the nod of CIAA Chairman of the Board of Directors and Livingstone College President, Dr. Jimmy R. Jenkins, the institution will join conference play beginning this August. “As Chairman of the Board of Directors of the CIAA, I speak on behalf of my colleagues as I express our excitement about the fact that Winston-Salem State University has returned.  I want to express our appreciation to the NCAA for clearing WSSU, and congratulate Chancellor Donald Reeves for the work he has done to meet all requirements. The 2010-2011 bar of excitement of athletic competition in the CIAA has been raised another notch with the addition of WSSU,” said President Jenkins.
 
The Rams’ addition to the CIAA roster will increase participation for every conference sponsored sport; including baseball, which will return to campus for the approaching spring season.
 
Winston-Salem State, originally Winston-Salem Teachers College, returns to the CIAA with 61 years of membership in tow.  During the Rams’ tenure the school earned an NCAA National Men’s Basketball Championship (1967) and racked-up numerous conference championships in men’s basketball (10), football (8) and outdoor men’s track & field (2).
 
Winston-Salem State also boasts production of history-makers and breakers including Clarence “Big House” Gaines and Earl “The Pearl” Monroe.  “Legendary figures such as Clarence “Big House” Gaines represented the embodiment of this conference, and it seems both fitting and proper that WSSU maintain membership in the conference that it helped propel to become the premier Division II conference in the nation, “ states President Jenkins.
 
Winston-Salem State’s conference competition begins in High Point, NC with football competition versus conference foe Virginia Union University. The game is slated for a 7:30pm kickoff.