Having qualified for a televised national championship -- the "May Madness" 7s tournament, held in New Orleans, LA, Hofstra Men’s Rugby was ecstatic. This is a massive tournament of the best teams and programs in the country. It is the first time in Hofstra Rugby history that they have been invited to this tournament. The tournament is an honor to be invited to, they did not get invited because they asked... they earned it. Blood, sweat, tears, three hours a night, after classes, 5 days a week, pounding mud at the intramural fields in rain, snow, heat. Now, two weeks after the initial approval, the team has been told arbitrarily, and without a stated reason, that they can no longer go.

On Sunday April 11th, the work paid off. They won the tournament at home, on Hofstra’s campus. They were invited to play in the Collegiate Rugby Championship tournament at the end of May. It would've been their 3rd consecutive playoff appearance in 3 semesters played. The team has worked so hard to be where they are today. 

After winning the tournament, earning a spot through hard work, and hours of time devoted outside of their own normal, non-athletics assisted class schedules -- they were told that a faculty member at the school needed to sign a participation agreement for the team as the tournament is to be broadcast by CBS. They were given one week to have it signed and returned. Hofstra, at first, refused to sign the agreement, ultimately signing it at 4:57pm on the final date possible. It was all essentially in the clear until Monday April 25th when the school, without reason entirely, told them -- two weeks after agreeing -- that they cannot go. The disappointment of the team is beyond sadness, and beyond heartbreak.

Imagine it were Hofstra's D1 Men’s Basketball team instead of Hofstra Men's Rugby, and for the first time, they had made the March Madness tournament; there would be no question that they would be sent any distance to participate. The school would do everything possible to not only ensure that the team could attend, but also to ensure that the process by which they attended would be seamless, stress free, and exciting. This is the complete opposite of what the rugby team has experienced in the process of trying to attend this tournament.

The entire roster has already bought plane tickets. They have poured countless hours of planning and capital into the trip itself. All while also trying to balance schoolwork, and life as soon-to-be graduates.

Having received their invitation to May Madness, they were not congratulated, but were immediately asked questions regarding their ability to fund transportation, hotels, and meals.

It should be noted that the club sports department itself has been a true ally, through and through. They love their work, and they care about the students that they represent; however, they are often ill equipped, from an authority standpoint, to actually make promises. An administrator above the club sports department reached out, berated the department head, and told her to rescind our agreement to attend -- still, they have not given a reason why.

That is all that any of us want to understand. The tournament only stands to benefit Hofstra as an institution and to increase brand awareness, which can also help prospective students to decide to apply to Hofstra. The team has stood for Hofstra's resistance at every possible juncture, they have not cried out at the blatant disregard for their efforts. There is no justification, no understanding, no semblance of sympathy from the Hofstra executives who so cavalierly dismissed the dreams of 15 deserving athletes. 

That is where the true tragedy lies. These student athletes are not going off into the world proud of an institution that takes pride in their work ethic or achievement, but one that scorns and punishes it. They will go off into the world as a recent graduate: not with a proud sense of achievement, having attended and possibly won a national title, but bitter. Something that they worked hard for, wearing the school's logo along the way, died at the hands of a school administrator who looked at some letters on a page and said "no.”