A Message from Vice President for Student Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer Usama Shaikh:

To the Campus Community,

SUNY Old Westbury and its Athletics Department are committed to providing a robust athletic experience for all student-athletes while following the guidance of the Skyline Conference, the NCAA, local, state and federal guidelines in navigating the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With the unprecedented challenges caused by this coronavirus, Old Westbury is making the difficult decision to cancel intercollegiate athletic competition in winter sports for the 2020-21 season. The sports affected by this decision are men's and women's basketball, cheerleading, and men's and women's swimming, which will not participate in in-person training, team practices and competition this winter.
 
Additionally, the College will not compete in women's lacrosse in the spring 2021. Looking ahead, Old Westbury will continue to work with the Skyline Conference to determine a competition calendar for other spring sports that adheres to the NCAA, local, state and federal resocialization protocols and provides for a healthy, safe environment for all. Further announcements regarding the spring season will be forthcoming and shared in the coming weeks on the SUNY Old Westbury Athletics website.

I understand this decision will disappoint many students, given the important role athletics plays in the student experience. I am especially aware of how much this affects our student-athletes, who work so hard and represent SUNY Old Westbury on the field of competition. For those students, the NCAA Division III Presidents' Council announced on October 29 the approval of a blanket waiver for all student-athletes. This waiver allows student-athletes to avoid being charged a year of eligibility for those semesters in which they were enrolled and where competitions are not being held due to COVID-19.  More information on that waiver is available on the NCAA website.
 
Even as we face this latest difficult decision being made in difficult times, I look forward to the day when our Panther athletes compete once again and when we can all cheer them on.

Thank you.

Usama Shaikh
Vice President for Student Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer 

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