We, the students, faculty, staff and supporters at Birmingham-Southern College, are petitioning the NCAA Division III Membership Committee to remove one year from our probation caused by reclassification. This would allow our athletic teams to compete in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championships and the Division III National Championships in the 2010/2011 academic year. We believe that because no student athlete will be receiving athletic scholarships by that time, Birmingham-Southern student-athletes should not be penalized an additional year. As bylaw 20.3.3.2 states: \"The Management Council, on recommendation of the Membership Committee, may waive any portion of the first two years of the four-year provisional period the institution previously completed as a provisional member, provided the portion was completed within the last 10 years.\" According to this bylaw, Birmingham-Southern should be eligible for consideration of the removal of one year of probation due to our provisional membership in the last ten years. In considering our case, we would also like to propose that our four current teams that are competing without any scholarship athletes (football, men\'s basketball, women\'s lacrosse, and baseball) be eligible for immediate and full participation in the SCAC. According to the Division III philosophy as it pertains to athletics, Division III institutions strive to support student athletes in their efforts to reach high levels of athletics performance, which may include opportunities for participation in national championships, by providing all teams with, adequate facilities, competent coaching, and appropriate competitive opportunities. By not permitting our competition in Division III championships until 2011/2012, we do not feel that the Division III governing body is making a fair attempt to provide equitable opportunities for Birmingham-Southern athletes to compete for championships. Please consider revising the probationary status of Birmingham-Southern College to allow full athletic participation in Division III athletics beginning during the 2010/2011 academic year and immediate participation for non-scholarship sports.

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