Faculty Group Delays NCAA Hockey Decision

The Faculty Committee on Athletics will delay its decision on the varsity hockey team's participation in the post-season NCAA tournament, until the team makes its Christmas vacation trip to Colorado and Minnesota.

Members of the hockey team and of the Undergraduate Athletic Council's fact-finding committee want to "see whether the situation among the Western college hockey teams has changed, and if so how much," according to Dean Watson, a member of the Faculty Committee.

For two years, Harvard has refused to participate in the NCAA tourney in protest of alleged abuses by Western colleges in recruting athletes.

Watson said that the UAC has asked for more time to consider its case in favor of entering the tournament. The undergraduate committee will presumably base its opinion on observations of the two Western opponents on the varsity's schedule this season--Minnesota and Colorado.

Watson revealed that he also would probably travel on the Western trip.

The Athletic Department said last year that the varsity would play Colorado and Minnesota because they are not leading offenders of accepted recruiting procedures.

Dean Monro, another Faculty Committee member, said earlier that he expected the Committee to announce its decision before the 1961-62 season starts. But he said this week that the Faculty was willing to wait to hear from the UAC.

"If the undergraduates present new facts, we shall give a lot of attention to their report," he said. "If our information remains the same, we shall probably argue along the same lines."

Watson reported that the recruiting situation in the West is changing some what for the better. Recent NCAA legislation now rules ineligible those who have played for or signed with a professional team or farm club. Also, the age of some players is now limited.

An additional factor for the Faculty to consider, said Watson, is the inclusion this year of an Eastern Hockey Tournament, one week before the NCAA tourney, in Utica, N.Y.

The Faculty must decide whether the team should compete in two straight weeks of tournament play and whether a possible victory in the Eastern tourney would obligate the varsity to play in the nationals.