Syracuse, MEAC agree to 10-year partnership on and off field

In the dead of winter Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack was brainstorming about the future and how to make some sort of social impact through sports.

"My thought was, is there a chance for us to maybe schedule our nonconference with a little more purpose in some instances?” Wildhack said.

That was in February and Wildhack, a former executive at ESPN, immediately thought of Dennis Thomas, commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, a group of historically Black colleges and universities in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. Wildhack floated the idea of an alliance with the MEAC that would include athletic competition, seminars on athletic compliance and fundraising, visiting professorships and an internship exchange.

Thomas embraced it.

“We both agreed that it shouldn’t be about just games," said Thomas, who is retiring at the end of the year but plans to stay involved. "It should be about professional development. It should be about internships. It should be about sharing expertise, all those kinds of things that we think are a great convergence and synergy for our institutions and Syracuse University.”

The agreement was announced Thursday. The first game in the partnership features the Syracuse women’s basketball team hosting Morgan State in November. A contract also has been signed for Syracuse to play Morgan State in football in 2029. The goal is to schedule up to 50 contests involving several sports.

“I’m thrilled that this idea has become reality," Wildhack said. "Sports has always been one of the avenues to unify people. In some small way I hope that’s one of the outcomes of this.”

The MEAC was formed in 1970. Schools in the conference this year include Delaware State, Morgan State, Howard, Norfolk State, North Carolina Central and South Carolina...