As the New England Small College Athletic Conference and its member institutions prepare for the spring semester, the health and safety of our students, faculty, staff, and communities remain our foremost concerns. Although COVID case numbers have started to decline, nationally and in our region, the numbers remain far higher than they were at the start of the fall semester. After a careful review, the NESCAC presidents have agreed that conditions will need to improve significantly in order to conduct conference competition this spring.

As in the fall, all member institutions plan to limit travel off campus, restrict visitors, maintain strict protocols on physical distancing, and implement a robust COVID-19 testing program. At the same time, we will continue to monitor closely the progress of the pandemic, including SARS-CoV-2 variants with increased transmission, and changes in federal, state, and local guidelines on public health and athletic competition.  We all hope that conditions will improve.

In the meantime, each of our institutions will continue to do everything we can to provide meaningful opportunities for our students to engage in athletic activities on campus.  In addition, our Athletic Directors, coaches, and other campus personnel have developed contingency plans and alternate structures for conference scheduling and championships should conditions eventually allow for conference play. 
 
As a result of adjustments to our 2020-21 academic calendars, students are returning to NESCAC campuses at different times, ranging from late January to late February. If conference competition proves feasible, regular season conference play would likely not start until late March or early April, and would necessarily be limited in scope and duration.    
 
We recognize how important athletic competition is to many of our students and to our communities, and we understand the dismay many will feel at the possibility that spring conference competition might be canceled two years in a row. The Presidents will take this into consideration when making a final decision in late February or early March.
 
Biddy Martin, Amherst College
Clayton Spencer, Bates College
Clayton Rose, Bowdoin College
David Greene, Colby College
Katherine Bergeron, Connecticut College
David Wippman, Hamilton College
Laurie Patton, Middlebury College
Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Trinity College
Tony Monaco, Tufts University
Michael Roth, Wesleyan University
Maud Mandel, Williams College