The America East Conference Board of Presidents has decided to prohibit Stony Brook University's student athletes from participating in conference championships as a result of SBU's recent announcement that their athletic department will be joining the Colonial Athletic Association starting next year. While this decision is enforceable thanks to bylaws adopted in the mid 2000's, that does not change the fact that the bylaws by nature are both anti-student athlete in their nature.

By enforcing these bylaws, the America East conference is in no way supporting the student athletes whom the conference has claimed to hold in their best interest. For most of these student athletes, the opportunity to compete for conference championships will be their greatest athletic achievement, and by preventing them from doing so, it nullifies and ignores the efforts made by them both athletically and academically while representing the AE. 

If the interests of America East student athletes are truly of the greatest priority to the Board of Presidents, then they would do well to remember that for this academic year, Stony Brook students are among that population.