NCAA Alters 1.6 Rule, Defeats Ivies' Motion

The Ivy League and the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Association were foiled yesterday in their attempt to secure the abolition of the 1.6 athletic eligibility rule at the annual convention of the National Collegiate Athletic Association in New York.

The NCAA ruling--a source of conflict between the Association and the Ivy League since its enactment two years ago--was significantly amended. But it retains a provision to which the Ivies, and Harvard particularly, have repeatedly objected.

The motion backed by the Ivies called for the elimination of the 1.6 ruling. The regulation requires a student to predict a 1.6 grade point average or better (on a 4.0 scale) upon entering college and maintain it in order to participate in NCAA-sanctioned sports events or hold a scholarship.

The motion, presented in the morning session of the convention by Adolph W. Samborski '25, director of athletics at Harvard, was defeated by a voice vote.

The 1.6 legislation was not left unchanged, however. An amendment sponsored by the NCAA Council making concessions to schools with higher than average admission requirements passed easily.

The amendment permits schools to use prediction tables other than the NCAA recommended 1.6 table if they equal or exceed the NCAA requirement.

Exempted

Schools using the 1.6 table or a higher standard for admission will also be exempt from applying a 1.6 requirement for continuing eligibility. Schools with less demanding admission standards will still have to require a 1.6 throughout a students college career.

The Council amendment stipulates that whatever academic admission standard is used must be filed with and approved by the NCAA. In the past, Harvard alone of the Ivy League schools has refused to send its admission standards to the NCAA.

President Pusey has said that the NCAA has no right to act in academic matters.

The official reaction of the Ivy League to the newly-amended legislation will probably be delayed until the next meeting of the Ivy presidents this spring, according to Eric Cutler '40, assistant director of athletics.

Ivies Banned

The controversial rule went into effect soon after the NCAA convention in Washington in 1966. When the Ivy League refused to abide by it, Ivy athletes were banned from NCAA competition.

A moratorium on the ban declared by NCAA president Marcus Plante a year ago to allow Ivy athletes to participate in winter and spring competition ended in September. As a result, Ivy teams which qualified for NCAA competition last fall (the Brown soccer team was one) were not allowed to play.