By year end, the results of an extensive evaluation could result in a request to the North Carolina Central University (NCCU) Board of Trustees and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to permit NCCU to move up to Division I athletic competition.
     NCCU is currently a Division II university competing in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) conference. The NCAA, governing body of collegiate athletics, divides colleges and universities into divisions so they complete ‘apples-to-apples’ with similar-size programs. Division I is widely seen as the most
prestigious level of collegiate competition. For example, Duke University is a Division I program.
     The primary motivation behind the move is NCCU’s rapidly expanding and changing student body. NCCU is rapidly expanding with a strategy to draw top performing students. In 2004, NCCU’s enrollment hit an all-time high with officials enrolling 7,727 students for the 2004-2005 academic year. The all-time high in enrollment was sparked by a 5.6% increase in the number of applicants. 
     While prestige still lies in NCCU’s legacy as both the nation's first publicly supported liberal arts college for African-Americans and one of the top-rated historically black universities, today’s students are drawn as much to the prestige and solidarity that comes with Division I athletics as they are to an institution’s history and curriculum.
     Many of NCCU’s top rivals have already moved to Division I including NC A&T State, Norfolk State, and Hampton universities. The move would rekindle those rivalries, while sparking new rivalries within the state and region—all at a higher level of competition. NCCU could also play regular season games that count against cross-town Duke and nearby UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State.
     The move would be a five-year transition, so NCCU would not be an official Division I member until 2011. While the Eagles would not be able to compete for championships until then, the University would be able to join a Division I conference. While both the Big South and Southern conferences have been mentioned as possible Division I conferences for NCCU, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) seems a logical fit. NCCU was a member of the MEAC from 1970-79, leaving the conference just before the conference transitioned to Division I competition in 1980.
     A greater commitment to athletics, scholarships for athletes, and facilities will be required for the transition up to Division I to take place. But these commitments could create added prestige and media exposure, which would open new revenue streams for both NCCU and Durham.
     Research by the Travel Industry Association of America shows that two-fifths of all adult travelers in the U.S. are sports-event travelers, 13% of whom travel of collegiate sports events.

Published by the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau.