The news on Morehouse sports came at the same time the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), one of the NCAA’s two Division I conferences composed of all HBCUs, was explaining on a virtual news conference how it would survive a fourth program leaving in three years, with Bethune-Cookman’s decision to move to the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) becoming official on Thursday.

Howard president Wayne Frederick, chair of the MEAC Council of Chief Executive Officers, agreed: “We do feel our conference is strong, but we do realize we have some work to do.”

Thomas added that officials at Delaware State University, reportedly pursued by another conference in the wake of the two Florida schools’ move, have assured him they were committed to the MEAC.

In past years, the MEAC has reached out to Division II for inclusion of schools, but with mixed success: North Carolina Central has excelled in its return to the conference in 2010, but Savannah State and Winston-Salem State did not last as full-time members.

— Howard president Wayne Frederick, chair of the MEAC Council of Chief Executive Officers

There are real financial issues that weigh on the conference, even without the pandemic complicating matters: ESPN’s contract for the annual Celebration Bowl in Atlanta, between the MEAC and SWAC champions, expires after this season.