Syracuse University Enters Partnership With HBCU Athletic Conference

Syracuse University in New York and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) announced they have signed an agreement, creating an alliance designed to connect institutions, student-athletes, staff, and alumni. The MEAC, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is made up of eight historically Black institutions across the Atlantic coastline: Coppin State University, Delaware State University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina Central University, and South Carolina State University.

Under the new agreement, there is a goal of holding up to 50 competitions between Syracuse and the MEAC institutions over the course of the next 10 years. The first of these competitions will be in women’s basketball this fall when Syracuse will play Morgan State University.

In addition to athletic competition, the agreement calls for an internship exchange between the athletics offices of Syracuse and MEAC institutions, joint seminars on compliance and student-athlete development, and conferences on revenue generation and women’s leadership. There is also a provision for visiting professorships or lecturer exchanges between Syracuse and MEAC institutions.

Dennis Thomas, the commissioner of the MEAC, stated that “our member institutions look forward to working with Syracuse to implement our shared vision of cooperation to ameliorate and procure opportunities for our student-athletes, both athletically and academically. Our membership, along with Syracuse, looks forward to assisting our constituents to lead this collaboration through sports competitions and academic engagement.”