By ABIGAIL PHELPS
Staff Writer
 

Of the 11 members, six (Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College and Wesleyan) voted against continuation of postseason play. People on all campuses appear stunned by the outcome of the vote.

A vote this December will decides NESCAC's final policy for the issue. In anticipation of controversy the Presidents came together for an unusual preliminary meeting. During this meeting a straw pole was taken to, " . . . see where we were on this issue," Harward said.

After years of discussion, the NESCAC presidents conducted an experiment which allowed NESCAC teams to participate in national post season play for three years. It was later extended to six years.

NESCAC was formulated in 1971 to preserve the academic goals and athletic philosophies of 11 elite liberal arts colleges in the country -- Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan, and Williams. The conference's governing body is comprised of the 11 colleges' presidents. Initially, no teams from NESCAC were allowed to participate in NCAA national competition. It was felt that the national competition would prove detrimental to the "academics first" philosophy of the member institutions.

"Five years ago Bowdoin's president was the leader in convincing other NESCAC Presidents to try NCAA team competition. I don't understand what happened to change his mind. I think NCAA post-season oppurtunities have been positive and educational on the Bowdoin campus," said Pete Slovenski, the Bowdoin men's and women's track and cross country coach.

Slovenski is not alone in his confusion as people begin to sift through piles of information being transferred over email and phone messages of all of the NESCAC schools.

What is the hook in all of this? Many students continue to ask what is motivating these six presidents to stand alone on a very unpopular pedestal.

"The official stand of the president of Wesleyan [Douglas J. Bennet, Jr.] is to vote with the majority," stated Wesleyan Athletic Director when pressed about the issue.

The majority seems to be moving toward a compromise.

There are currently six options that are being discussed; one has been rejected out of hand, and another is gaining popularity.

The rejected option is maintaining the status quo of allowing postseason play for all teams. All of the NESCAC presidents are opposed to this.

The option, or compromise, gaining popularity within the 11-member group is for a NESCAC championship that sends only one team to the national competition out of this conference.

The push to compromise is prompted by rumors that Williams, Middlebury, and Hamilton have threatened to leave NESCAC if the vote takes the conference out of postseason.

President of Amherst College, Tom Gerety, finally responded by e-mail after letters of protest were sent to him by all of the sports captains there. "My most important task is keeping NESCAC together . . . If we can find a way to strengthen NESCAC while allowing NCAA playoffs, I will vote for it," wrote Gerety.

"I see [preservation of NESCAC] as a formative issue Š some of my colleagues do not," said Harward, mirroring the response Amherst's Gerety to the question of why he was willing to compromise.

He is now looking to Director of Athletics Suzanne Coffey for help in working out some middle ground.

But even as compromises are being talked about there is a group that silently watches at this and the other NESCAC colleges: the coaches. Recruiting violations, job security, and attacks on the morals of the job of coaching itself are surfacing during this debate about collegiate athletics. For a conference that was once hailed by Sports Illustrated as the last true vestige of collegiate athletics, this debate may have shattering repercussions.