One is nestled in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains; the other lies along Tobacco Row. One is a large institution owned by the LDS Church; the other has a small enrollment and is run by the Baptist Church. One has a sports program that is nationally recognized; the other competes in obscurity, even in its own state.
On the surface, it doesn't appear that BYU and Campbell University (located in Buies Creek, N.C., and home of the "Fighting Camels"), have anything in common. Well, there is at least one thing. Namely, the Bible. A passage of Old Testament scripture partially explains why they suddenly have become unlikely allies: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8).""I don't know much about the difference in doctrine between Mormons and Baptists," said Campbell University athletic director Tom Collins. "But I do know we are both Christian institutions and that we both think similarly in how we should conduct our lives. We have a lot of common values and common ground."
The schools are fighting a difficult, uphill battle in an era when defending principles is rare and attitudes toward participating in athletics on Sunday have become lax. Despite the odds, though, they have enlisted a host of other schools with diverse backgrounds to battle their cause.
Juxtapose this scenario with the irony that in a couple of weeks, thousands of Southern Baptists will descend on Utah for their annual convention. They will take the opportunity to proselytize predominantly Mormon residents along the Wasatch Front.
That notwithstanding, President Merrill J. Bateman and Athletic Director Rondo Fehlberg have chummily teamed with Campbell University President Dr. Norman A. Wiggins and Collins to reverse the elimination of a piece of NCAA legislation known as the "BYU Rule." This bylaw, implemented in 1963, stated that championship games would not be scheduled on Sundays so that BYU, and other schools that also refrain from playing on that day for religious reasons, could continue being involved in the championship process.
In April, the NCAA board of directors voted to abolish the policy. That move didn't sit well with fans, athletes or administrators from either school. Of the NCAA's 330 Division I members, BYU and Campbell are the only institutions that refuse to play on Sundays. And they unabashedly state that they will never play on Sunday. "You can't go halfway on something like this," Campbell said. There are numerous other religious schools that grudgingly compete on Sunday, but they compete nonetheless.
Those schools that favor upholding the elimination of the "BYU Rule" say that they can't turn down the opportunities to have sports - particularly golf and tennis - televised. They also claim that student-athletes will miss less class time if championships are played on Sunday.
BYU and Campbell officials say that the limited television revenue and exposure for those sports don't justify events being moved to Sunday. Nor do they buy the argument that Sunday play will help athletes from an academic standpoint.
After the ruling was handed down, by a vote of 10-0-1 (the one abstention came from a UNLV official who represents the WAC), BYU and Campbell have worked jointly to override that vote.
The school presidents sent letters to Division I institutions, asking them to persuade the board of directors to reverse their decision. Most schools weren't even aware the change had occurred until after the vote was taken.
BYU and Campbell are quick to point out that they aren't foisting their beliefs on the host of member schools. They are simply asking for some flexibility in the way the NCAA schedules postseason cham-pion-ships.
"The request does not mention BYU or Campbell," said BYU spokes-woman Carri Jenkins. "We are not asking schools to look at Sunday play the same way we do. We just want deserving athletes to have the opportunity to compete for a championship like everybody else."
To date, the list of schools that have filed formal requests to override the policy is 35 and it's climbing. By accumulating at least 30 requests, which happened Tuesday, the board of directors will now review their decision regarding the "BYU Rule." Meanwhile, a vote by NCAA schools will take place in January. Should some 70 more decide to be included by July 6, the legislation will be suspended until after the January vote. That vote would require the support of at least 200 schools to defeat the Sunday-play policy.
While Baylor University, a Baptist School, is one of the institutions supporting BYU and Camp-bell, others, like Southern Cal, have jumped aboard the bandwagon although it does not have religious affiliations. "We decided to support this so there's an opportunity to fully explore this," said Noel Ragsdale, the faculty athletic representative at USC. "We felt the arguments to explore this further were significant."
Although BYU and Campbell are optimistic about the outcome of the petition, Bateman acknowledges, "We still have a very tough fight on our hands."
The fact that this is being revisited at all is a ground-breaking event. A new NCAA governance structure came into place last August, whereby the Board was created, made up of 15 college presidents. The idea was to cut down on the "one school, one vote" format. So this marks the first time, Collins said, that a vote to override a policy will take place.
Collins hopes the Board will reinstate the "BYU Rule" when it meets in August. "And that could be the end of it, at least for a time," he said.
While both schools have exhausted plenty of effort and expense in their quest, many people have sought them out on their own. Not long after the decision was publicized, NCAA headquarters were flooded with calls and letters from folks from coast to coast. NCAA officials instructed these people to inform the Board of Directors with their comments. And both schools have received a deluge of e-mail, letters and phone calls from everyone from private citizens to church groups to the office of California U.S. Congressman Howard E. "Buck" McKeon, asking how they can help.
"We tell them all to write directly to the Board," said Collins. "They are the ones who can change it. They can make it happen."
Collins asserts that religious convictions aside, Sunday should be a day of rest. "Everybody needs a day off," he said.
This isn't the first time Campbell has had to fight for this principle before. In 1994, the school pulled out of the Big South Conference over a Sunday play flap. Incidentally, the president of the Big South at the time, Anthony DiGiorgio, implemented the plan to schedule championship games on Sunday. Today, DiGiorgio is one of the 15 Board of Directors that helped decide to abolish the "BYU Rule." Campbell is now a member of the TransAmerica Conference.
"We were a charter member of that conference and we were forced out because of that policy," Collins said. "Then the conference sued us for leaving."
BYU also has a painful history involving no Sunday play. In the early 1960s, the Cougar baseball team was not allowed to play in the NCAA tournament that was held on Sunday. Eventually, that disappointment paved the way for the "BYU Rule."
And for years, the NCAA has accommodated BYU and Campbell.
When the Fightin' Camels qualified for the NCAA basketball tournament in 1992, they were slotted into a Thursday-Saturday bracket, ensuring they would not have to play on Sunday. It's the same consideration BYU is given when it makes the NCAA tournament field.
For now, the only Division I championship perennially scheduled on Sundays is in women's basketball. If some NCAA leaders and television networks get their way, more sports will follow suit. Golf and tennis could be next.
But plenty of schools have already pledged their support in challenging such action. "What they're saying is, no, we're not affected by this, but we need to protect each individual school's principles," Collins said. "It's out of a respect for our principles. They see they need to stand up for us in a time people roll over and don't stand up for what they believe. Those schools say they don't mind supporting our right of self-determination. It's reassuring."
Turns out, Campbell practices what it preaches. One school in its conference, Florida Atlantic, is affiliated with the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Thus, its teams do not play from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. But Campbell schedules its home games with Florida Atlantic accordingly.
"It's inconvenient for us," Collins said, "but some things are worth a little inconvenience."
Administrators from BYU and Campbell realize that, even if this current battle is successful, they could ultimately lose the war. The trend toward Sunday play is on the upswing.
Both schools boast impressive golf programs. BYU's men's team has a wonderful talent in Johnny Miller's son, Andy. Campbell has a top-20 women's golf program, Collins said.
"We're very open with our athletes about not playing on Sunday when they come here," he said. "The day could come when they have to walk off the golf course (because of legislation setting the stage for a Sunday championship round). That will be a tough day.
We will battle this from time to time."
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Additional Information
On board with BYU
Among the 35 universities that have formally asked the NCAA to override the decision regarding the "BYU Rule":
Austin Peay State, Baylor, Cincinnati, Duke, Hawaii, LaSalle, Marquette, Northwestern, Rice, Southern California, Southern Utah, Stanford, Texas A&M, Texas Christian, Tulsa, U.S. Naval Academy, VMI, Weber State and Wyoming.