NCAA Sets Dec. 21 Deadline On 1-A Eligibility Requirement

The first step in an Ivy League request for a temporary waiver from recently imposed eligibility requirements for Division 1-A status in NCAA college football is set for Dec. 21, an NCAA official said yesterday.

Although the Ivy League is still undecided about whether it will apply for a waiver, Jim Litvack, executive secretary of the league, and Bob Myslik, Princeton athletic director, are working to develop a potential case.

"It's hard to know (whether or not the league will apply), but I guess we probably will," said Harvard athletic director John P. Reardon Jr. '60. "My instinct is that it'd be less of a problem getting approval this year than any other."

But Ted Tow, executive director of the NCAA, said that re-admission is never permanent, and "open only to institutions who show they can meet the requirements after time." Unless schools prove they are moving toward programs comparable to those of Division 1-A member institutions, it is unlikely that the members will readmit them, Two said.

Ivy Amendment

Last Friday in St. Louis, representatives of 137 Division 1-A schools, including Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, and USC, voted by a show of hands to drop the so-called "Ivy Amendment" from division eligibility qualifications.

Under the amendment--which stated member institutions could remain in Division 1-A provided they carried 12 varsity sports--Ivy schools retained equal status to the top athletic programs in the country although not on the same competitive level with them, and despite the fact they failed to fulfill division attendance requirements.

Before the amendment passed, member schools were required to have an average home attendance of 17,000 over one year, provided a home-stadium capacity of 30,000, or a four-year home attendance average of over 17,000, provided a home stadium capacity of less than 30,000.

To be re-admitted to Division 1-A the Ivy League must submit its request and documentation to Walter Byers, executive director of the NCAA by Dec. 21. By Dec. 28, the information must be mailed to the president, Faculty athletic representative, and athletic director of every 1-A member as well as the athletic director of every 1-A athletic conference. Finally, a representative for the Ivy League must present its case before a meeting of Division 1-A members on Jan. 11 in Houston.

If a majority of the members vote in its favor, the Ivy League regains Division 1-A status for the 1982-83 football season. Following that season, however, it must undergo an as-yet-to-be-determined procedure in an attempt to make the waiver permanent