At it's meeting last Saturday, the St. Lawrence University Board of
Trustees approved a proposal to allow the school to offer non-need-based
grants-in-aid to Division I men's hockey players.  The initiative was
proposed as part of a recent report from an ad hoc committee on athletics,
with the grant-in-aid portion later supported by the elected Faculty
Council.  Other recommendations of the commission (such as elimination
of a sport) have not been so warmly embraced so it's not quite a done
deal yet.  The Board's action merely authorizes the university President
to pursue a grant-in-aid policy, but does not obligate her to do so.
The current President is leaving office after this semester and it's not
clear yet whether a final decsion will be made before she does so.
 
One thing that was clear in the proposal is that we won't change the
amount of money that goes to funding hockey players.  Under the current
system, we have been able to offer financial assistance up to the amount
of need demonstrated by the student.  This allows SLU to compete fairly
evenly for students who have a good deal of need, but puts the program
at a distinct disadvantage when trying to attract players with more
substantial financial backgrounds.  The new program would aim to spend
the same amount of money, but enlarge the pool of potential recipients.
 
It's also not clear how the change might affect the financial packages
of current players or whether anything will be in place to for this
year's recruits.
 
Robin Lock
St. Lawrence University
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