BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — The Mountain East Conference has completed its detailed review of the postgame incident that occurred following the Oct. 27, 2016 football game between Notre Dame College and Fairmont State University. The Conference, supported by the Presidents and Directors of Athletics at the involved institutions, hereby issues a public reprimand to the football programs at both schools.
All Mountain East Conference student-athletes are required to sign a code of conduct form prior to each season, wherein the expectations of appropriate conduct under MEC Bylaw 12 are clearly established. The MEC strongly condemns all acts of inappropriate behavior that compromise the gameday experience, spirit of competition, and the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches, administrators and fans.
After detailed review of available video in cooperation with institutional leadership, the MEC and the institutions have agreed to sanctions for involved student-athletes who were found to be in violation of the MEC’s Appropriate Conduct policy. These sanctions include game suspensions of varying lengths to multiple student-athletes from each institution, with indefinite suspension for one student-athlete. Additionally, all student-athletes involved in inappropriate conduct during this incident will be subject to an increased level of penalties if involved in any future violations of the conference’s appropriate conduct policy.
“Over our first four years as a NCAA conference, more than 8,000 student-athletes in 17 Mountain East Conference sports have consistently engaged in appropriate behavior supporting positive game environments across the league,” said Commissioner Reid Amos. “This incident only served to discredit the cooperative efforts in the Conference to promote appropriate conduct by MEC programs in competition.
“Our 12 conference members have built an outstanding conference through its first three-plus years and we are committed to maintaining the conference’s integrity,” Amos said. “We have established a strong track record of positive environments and appropriate conduct at our events by having high expectations for our student-athletes and holding them accountable to those standards. I am confident that the punishments levied clearly demonstrate the MEC’s commitment to sportsmanship and appropriate conduct.”
The MEC considers the matter closed.