Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 9, 1995 TAG: 9511090047
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
In a unanimous vote Wednesday, representatives of the schools in the 75-year-old league amended the conference's constitution to allow schools that do not play Division I-AA football to join the league. That vote, taken during the league's annual winter meetings, clears the way for the three schools to join.
Under the league's old bylaws, member schools were required to field teams in football, basketball and at least five other sports. Under the new rules, football schools will need a two-thirds vote of membership to gain entry into the league while non-football-playing schools will need a three-fourths vote.
The conference formed a five-member committee to conduct visits to the three schools. After the campus visits, commissioner Wright Waters said the league's faculty representatives will vote on the matter, most likely in December or January.
UNC Greensboro and Southern Conference sources said the visits are little more than a formality and all three schools have the necessary votes to secure an invitation.
UNC Greensboro, which recently announced plans to end its four-year affiliation with the Big South Conference in 1997, and Charleston - a recent addition to the Trans America Athletic Conference - do not field football teams. Wofford, a Spartanburg, S.C., independent which moved up from Division II to Division I-AA this year, does.
Current Southern Conference members are: Appalachian State, The Citadel, Davidson, East Tennessee State, Furman, Georgia Southern, Marshall, Tennessee-Chattanooga, VMI and Western Carolina. Marshall will leave the conference after the 1996-97 season to join the Division I-A Mid-American Conference.
by CNB