In an effort to make its program comply with NCAA scholarship rules and reinstate two Virginia athletes previously suspended, the Jefferson Scholars Foundation has restructured its scholarship into institutional aid under the guidance of the University Financial Aid Office, paving the way for future Jefferson Scholars who wish to compete in intercollegiate athletics.
In late January, the University Athletic Department declared rower Jen Blomberg and wrestler Jason Bernd, both rising fourth-years, ineligible to compete after the department discovered that the Jefferson Scholarship violated an NCAA rule prohibiting aid from independent foundations under specific circumstances. Since that time, the Alumni Association Board of Managers has worked with the Jefferson Scholars Foundation to form a proposal that would satisfy the University Athletic Compliance Office and the NCAA.
The proposal accepted by the NCAA gives the University Financial Aid Office access to the list of Jefferson Scholar selections before the scholarships are offered to recipients, according to Financial Aid Director Yvonne Hubbard, who also serves on the Jefferson Scholar selection committee.
"Everybody was eager to find a solution that would allow our scholars to participate in athletics," said James H. Wright, Executive Director of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation. "We wanted to do whatever we could to comply with the NCAA."
The agreement allows Bernd and Blomberg to return to their teams next year only after they have returned some of the scholarship funding. According to Blomberg, she is required to repay $220 of her scholarship, while Bernd needs to return considerably more to meet NCAA eligibility rules. While Blomberg walked on to the rowing team, Bernd was recruited as a wrestler, thus making him subject to stricter NCAA guidelines.
"Jason said he had to pay back over a thousand dollars," Blomberg said. "They just told me I had to give $220 to a charity of my choice."
Bernd could not be reached for comment.
The Jefferson Scholars Foundation uses its $90 million endowment to provide full scholarships to 25 entering students every year. Since its inception in 1980, the recipients have been chosen and the scholarship has been distributed through the Foundation and the University Alumni Association.
But according to Lynn Mitchell, the University Athletic Compliance Officer who worked with the Foundation on its proposal, the Jefferson Scholarship will have to go through the financial aid office in order for Jefferson Scholars to continue being involved in Virginia sports.
"If they go back to the system they had, the athletes would be ineligible," Mitchell said.
Mitchell also framed the NCAA's complaint in more detail. An NCAA rule change in 1994 caused the Athletic Department to investigate the process the Jefferson Scholars Foundation uses to select its recipients. On the scholarship application, there is a space for applicants to list their extra-curricular activities. Because potential recipients may list sports in that space and because the scholarship was previously independent aid, it violated the NCAA bylaw.
For Blomberg and Bernd, however, the agreement puts an end to a tumultuous three months in which the two lobbied arduously to be reinstated.
"I feel so happy," Blomberg said. "All I know is that I'm eligible"
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