In late October of 2019, Cincinnati Christian University announced that they would be closing their doors at the end of their fall semester. Since the institution closed halfway through the year, their athletic programs were also all terminated at the end of the fall season. Due to the dissolvement of their programs, the CCU fall athletic teams were not able to compete in their conference tournament.
The termination of CCU left a large hole in Asbury’s winter and spring athletic schedules.
“At the end of their fall semester they ceased competing as a member of the River States Conference, which means for any of our sports in the winter or spring, they just are recorded as forfeits,” Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Mark Whitworth said.
The immediate impact of CCU’s closing to the Asbury Athletic Department is unfortunate, in that their facilities were located not too far from Asbury, and they rounded out the number of teams in the River States Conference.
“It’s a lost opportunity and in most cases because they were close we played them home and away in a lot of different sports, so it does impact us,” said Whitworth.
Nonetheless, CCU’s closure opens a door for another school to begin competing in the conference. While there are not any solidified plans yet, there are several schools that have shown interest in joining the RSC and could begin competing against Asbury as soon as next fall.
“I think from a scheduling standpoint and a competitive standpoint, even beginning next fall, there’s a possibility that we could have a new member that could fill that void left by CCU,” said Whitworth.
Despite the collaborative effort from Admissions and several of the Asbury athletic department coaches, very few Cincinnati Christian athletes opted towards transferring to Asbury to play their sport.
“If you can imagine an institution that is closing its doors, even under the best of circumstances — it’s chaos, and so trying to provide meaningful opportunities for universities to come in and really help students was a difficult thing,” said Whitworth.
