Spelman Abandons Intercollegiate Athletics; Will Focus on Wellness Program

Atlanta’s Spelman College is doing away with its intercollegiate sports program. Instead, it will concentrate on wellness.

The change in focus started because Spelman President Beverly Daniel Tatum had a problem. The Great South Athletic Conference, where Spelman’s teams compete, was falling apart. Joining a new conference would cost more in travel, and the school might even have to add more teams.

President Tatum told WABE, “At the same time we had a wellness program that was already underway. More and more students were expressing interest in it, but hard to accommodate that interest in part because when the students are practicing for games, or games are being played, then that space is not available for our wellness program. So there was a tension between the athletics program and the wellness program in terms of our facilities.”