The Middle States Commission on Higher Education recently informed The University of Maryland at College Park that if they do not come forward with a clear command structure and responsibility allocation, then they risk losing accreditation. This comes after the June 2018 death of football player Jordan McNair who suffered a heatstroke. The Commission found Maryland lacked sufficient responsibility for the actions taken by the coach as well as the subsequent follow up of the investigation. Could this result in Maryland losing accreditation?
“The Middle States Commission on Higher Education announced on Friday that it had placed the University of Maryland, College Park on warning amid a review of the university’s accreditation.”
Sameer Rao, Baltimore Sun
The death of Jordan McNair is a tragedy and an awful thing to happen to any family, school, or team. The problem that the Commission found was the lack of responsibility for the actions taken following the football players death. According to the commission there was insufficient compliance with Standard VII (Governance, Leadership and Administration). Any further ruling on Maryland’s accreditation will not go into affects or even be prescribed until after a March 1st, 2020 deadline.
How this Impacts the Big 10
This is big news for the Big 10. Not only will the students of College Park lose out on valuable federal funding, but that also means that Maryland will be out of the Big 10. That leaves one empty slot in the East and I’m honestly not sure who will fill that gap. Myself and others at Belly Up have mentioned how we think Notre Dame should be in the Big 10,and lose their independent status. However, that would be a monumental leap in thinking that would happen anytime soon. What is more prevalent is that what happen if Maryland do end up losing their accreditation. Will there still be a football program? Would they still be considered Division 1? Will they still be a member of the Big 10 East? This opens a huge can of worms that no one really expected.
While Maryland will still be accredited this coming season, nothing major will happen just yet. However, you’ve got to wonder what the players are thinking. What could it mean for their futures. It can impact everything from scholarships to the transfer portal. This must be a scary time. This will definitely be a factor this season as every player will be thinking that it might be their last. Shocking and probably pretty devastating. Maryland is a good school. They are no slouch when it comes to football, but I don’t see a way that this comes out well. Even if the commission believes that there is a suitable command structure at the university level, Maryland could still lose accreditation.
