Elon University president Leo Lambert is one of nine university presidents to sign a letter saying they will not offer cost of attendance stipends to athletes.
The letter, accidentally leaked Monday but posted online Tuesday by James Madison University President Jonathan R. Alger, includes the line "Our institutions have chosen not to offer additional 'cost of attendance' payments to student-athletes at this time."
Of the nine schools to sign the letter, five of them are full-time members of the Colonial Athletic Association. Aside from Elon and James Madison, Hofstra University, University of Delaware and College of William & Mary also signed.
University of New Hampshire, which is a CAA member for football but part of the America East Conference for the rest of its teams beside hockey, signed the letter.
Wofford College and Virginia Military Institute of the Southern Conference signed it, as did University of Vermont of America East.
The letter, titled "Another Presidential Perspective on College Athletics," emphasizes that student-athletes compete under an amateur model and says most of the media scrutiny revolving around paying college athletes "has focused attention on the very few elite athletes who may go on to have lucrative professional sports careers and on athletic revenues that flow to a relatively small number of institutions from media rights, ticket sales and sponsorships."
All nine of these schools are considered mid-majors and are part of the Football Championship Subdivision (Hofstra and Vermont don't have football teams).
The letter states that regarding financial need, the universities "need to balance the support and spending on athletics with our primary academic and student priorities."
"We care deeply about our student-athletes, but we also care deeply about all of our students and want to treat all students equitably at a time when overall aid is limited, costs are increasing, and public financial support for higher education is diminishing," the letter reads. "As educational leaders, we feel strongly that our budgets must reflect our missions and the needs of all of our students. Many student-athletes have significant financial need, but so do many of their fellow students."
The letter goes on to say that providing such stipends could lead to potentially eliminating other sports from campus. It concludes by saying that the universities will "look for ways to enhance their health, safety and well-being," along with fostering academic growth and offering opportunities like study abroad, internships and undergraduate research.
In May, Dave Blank, Elon director of athletics, told the Burlington Times-News that the school would be taking more of a wait-and-see approach toward the cost of attendance stipends.
On the contrast, CAA members College of Charleston and Towson University have committed to offering the stipends, according to the Wilmington Star-News.