Winthrop athletes will get their financial aid, even if COVID-19 keeps them from playing
Winthrop University will provide due financial aid and will protect the roster spots of all students who choose to not participate in their sport in the 2020-21 school year, expressing in a letter sent out on Monday morning that the athletic department’s “foremost priority” is the “health and safety of our student-athletes.”
“If any of you are still uncomfortable returning to campus or participating in your sport due to COVID-19 and choose not to do so, your decision will be fully supported by the Department of Athletics,” states the letter, which was signed by athletic director Ken Halpin and obtained by The Herald. “Please know that your financial aid for the year as well as your roster spot will both be protected. …
“No one will be punished should they choose to stay away from campus for the upcoming academic semester.”
The letter also states the Winthrop University Athletics COVID-19 Task Force has developed a working plan for athletes and staff to return to campus as safely as possible, and that the plan will be made available in the coming days.
Those who return to campus will be “taking personal accountability for your health and for minimizing your potential exposure to COVID-19,” the letter states, and Winthrop will be partnering with a risk management program called RealRecruit to offer people “the opportunity to anonymously report any instances where fellow students, coaches or staff are not properly adhering” to the university’s coronavirus protocols.
Hank Harrawood, deputy athletics director at Winthrop, told The Herald on Monday that this decision was made to demonstrate that health and safety of Winthrop athletes comes first and foremost — and also to allow students to make the safest decisions for themselves.
“We have student-athletes who could have medical conditions, in theory, that make them high risk,” Harrawood said. “They could have family members who are high risk. And so we thought it was really important to make sure we supported our student-athletes in this way to make sure that they can fully make the best and safest decision for themselves and their families without having to worry about what the financial aid ramifications of that would be.”
Winthrop pays scholarships despite COVID-19 budget concerns
The decision to financially support athletes won’t add an extra expense to Winthrop’s athletic budget.
In other words, the money used to pay for the players’ scholarships was already budgeted.
“It’s not new money that’s committed,” Harrawood said. “All we’re doing is honoring the aid of incoming and current student-athletes who, because of COVID-19, don’t feel safe returning to campus or competing. It doesn’t impact our bottom line. It simply says, ‘You are more than an athlete to us.’ And every opportunity we have, we try to demonstrate that to our student-athletes.”
Winthrop spent over $4.4 million on athletic scholarships in 2019, per an NCAA financial summary report obtained by The Herald via a Freedom of Information Act request. The money the department spent on athletic scholarships comprised just under a third of the department’s total operating expenses in 2019, which was approximately $13.8 million.
The university is still tasked with providing financial aid to those who were on tennis scholarships and still remain Winthrop students, even after the programs were cut in June as a part of a university-wide effort to reach a 10% reduction in total expenditures as Winthrop prepares for a “fiscally tight” year that has been undoubtedly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
At the time of the programs’ elimination, the Rock Hill university announced that students affected by the cut would retain their scholarships through their fourth academic year, and that students “who signed National Letters of Intent for the 2020-21 year” would retain their scholarships for the upcoming year as well.
“We’re not committed to them individually just as soccer players or track athletes — we are committed to them as students,” Harrawood said. “As they sift and wade through the decision process of, ‘Do I feel good coming back to campus or do I not?,’ we just wanted to remove one big variable for them.”
How does this decision affect international students?
This decision has also affected Winthrop’s international student-athlete population.
Winthrop teaches over 100 international students from more than 30 countries, and some are also on athletic scholarships.
The decision gives international students the chance to choose whether or not they will return to campus, and whether or not they will compete in their sport, without having to worry about if their financial aid will be affected.
“Due to many of the challenges associated with COVID-19 and international travel, some of Winthrop’s international students may face difficulties returning to Rock Hill for the fall 2020 semester,” Leigh Poole, director of the International Center at Winthrop, said via email.
“Knowing that international student-athletes will continue to be supported by Winthrop Athletics highlights the institution’s commitment to student success and internationalization/global engagement.”
This story was originally published July 21, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
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