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Princeton University Found Guilty of `Major' NCAA Rule Violation in Tennis
Princeton University was found guilty of committing a “major violation” of National Collegiate Athletic Association rules after an alumnus paid the $33,000 cost of tuition, room and board for a member of the Tigers women’s tennis team.
The student, who wasn’t identified, will have to make a charitable donation of $33,000, the university said. Her records for matches she played during the 2007-2008 academic year and the fall semester of the 2008-2009 academic year must be vacated, the NCAA said in a press release. The women’s team was 5-2 in the Ivy League in 2007-08 and 6-1 in 2008-09.
The NCAA said it didn’t impose stricter penalties because it was only one incident, and the school worked to uncover and report the violation.
It was the fourth time since the NCAA started keeping records in 1953 that an Ivy League school was cited for a rules infraction. Cornell University was punished for improper entertainment in January of 1974 and improper recruiting in August of 1974, and Yale University was sanctioned for eligibility and outside competition violations in January of 1970, according to the NCAA.
The supporter, a family friend who met the girl at a tennis club near her home before her ninth-grade year, reported the contribution to the Princeton athletics department after receiving a mass e-mail from the school as part of a rules- compliance initiative.
University President Shirley M. Tilghman described the incident as ‘isolated” and an “inadvertent infraction” by a supporter acting in the interest of helping a family friend pursue an education after her parents refused to provide financial support.
“We do not believe that this should have been characterized as a major violation,” Tilghman said in a statement. “But we certainly regret the infraction and remain firmly committed to complying with all NCAA rules.”
The university said the dollar amount was a significant factor in the NCAA’s decision to qualify the rules violation as a “major infraction.”
The Ivy League, which doesn’t allow athletic scholarships, reported that the alumnus met the student and her family four years before she applied to Princeton and that he never recruited for Princeton athletics or attended a Princeton tennis match before the girl enrolled at the school.
To contact the reporter on this story: Curtis Eichelberger in Washington at ceichelberge@bloomberg.net
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