Allen’s move to NCAA DII is a detailed process. This HBCU veteran will lead transition

When Dr. Jerome Fitch became athletic director at Columbia’s Allen University in August, the school gained an administrator with a lengthy resume in HBCU athletics. The past 12 years, he led Claflin University’s transition from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics to NCAA Division II, including ensuring institutional compliance with NCAA rules and regulations — essential skills as Allen transitions from NAIA to NCAA D-2 in 2020-21.

Fitch, 77, was Claflin’s AD for nine years and director of compliance the previous three years. Prior to that, he was athletics director at Alabama A&M, overseeing construction of its football stadium while clearing up compliance issues in multiple sports. At Savannah State, his fund-raising efforts as athletic director helped eliminate the school’s $197,000 debt.

Fitch’s career began in 1970 when he became assistant AD, assistant men’s basketball coach and sports information director at his alma mater, North Carolina Central. He later was head men’s basketball coach at Johnson C. Smith, Voorhees (Denmark, S.C.) and Livingstone, and head coach of the women’s basketball team at Elizabeth City State. He holds a Doctor of Education degree from South Carolina State and a Master’s of Education from N.C. Central.

Question: How similar is Allen’s situation now to Claflin’s, where you oversaw the move from NAIA to NCAA Division II?

Answer: The process (for Claflin and Allen) is very similar, yes.

Question: What makes the timing good on the move to Divsion II for Allen?

Answer: Well, I think it’s a good time for Allen to make this move because in (school president) Dr. (Ernest) MacNealey’s vision for Allen, it fits with his plan for enrollment growth, and the rebuilding of the athletics department by the reinstatement of the football program (in 2018). So it’s a good time for Allen to make a move from NAIA to the D-II platform of NCAA for its student body (and) athletes, where the emphasis is on life in a balance, where the student-athlete is part of the idea that it’s not all athletics. The student-athlete here is probably going to “go pro” in something other than athletics.

Question: Was your experience at Claflin in moving to D-II a factor in you being hired as Allen’s AD?

Answer: Let’s say it like this: They’d already made the move to go to D-2, and I just asked Dr. McNealey to be a part of this. I’m a newcomer to this; they’d already made that decision. From that standpoint, I had retired from Claflin as of June 30. When I saw the announcement about Allen, I asked Dr. McNealey if I could be part of the transition, to lend my expertise to Allen.

Question: Did you expect him to say to you: Congratulations, you’re our new athletics director?

Answer: (Laugh) No, I did not. I did not. (But) the challenge of helping Allen transition into NCAA Division II is one that I felt I could be helpful in accomplishing. Knowing Dr. McNealey from my time in the SIAC (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) and knowing his energy and support for university athletics, I knew that I wanted to be a part of the upward trajectory at Allen.

Question: You’re 77 years old and just retired from one job. Why take on this?

Answer: Well, after being in this business for more than 45 years, you always have that itch to be involved with something like this. You kind of miss it. Sometimes, retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be (laugh). Once I got home (after retiring at Claflin), the routine was something I’m not accustomed to. I still had that burning desire to be part of athletics. Being around young kids, to help mold them to be the best they can be as young men and women, I kind of wanted to get back into it.

Question: What will be involved in the move to NCAA Division II? Do you have a timetable?

Answer: Well, it’s a three-year process. We have to revamp the athletics program here. There are rules and regulations that the NCAA expects its member institutions to adhere to. The athletics director must be a full-time (employee) with no coaching duties; a full-time compliance director with no coaching duties will be in effect here. That’s something that hasn’t been happening at Allen. We’re going to see a new day here.

Question: What’s been the impact of the COVID-19 shutdown on Allen so far, and what will happen with football and other sports this fall?

Answer: Well, the NAIA is trying to play, and right now we’re (still) a member of NAIA, and we haven’t disassociated ourselves from them for now. That’s a process that has to be in effect also. But we have canceled football; we’re an independent in that sport. We’re not playing football this fall. In the other sports, we have not made a decision on those at this moment. So we’ve got to understand that we’ve got a long process to separate ourselves from NAIA, and then assume the manner (of NCAA) as of Sept. 1 and going forward.

Question: Do you know if there will be football in the spring?

Answer: We have not made a decision on that yet.

Question: This past fall was the second season of the revival of football at Allen. How do you think having football on campus has changed or affected the student experience?

Answer: From my short time here, it seems to be an exciting thing to have football here at Allen. I’ve heard nothing but praise about having football resurrected here at Allen.

Question: What is your impressions of coach Teddy Keaton and his staff and the job they’ve done?

Answer: I think they’ve done an admirable job here with the football program. I’ve seen the staff, and they do an outstanding job with the program. I’ve seen the athletes and they’re outstanding. I take my hat off to them.

Question: Are there any upgrades on the boards in facilities, for football, basketball or another sport?

Answer: As an incoming athletics director, that’s always the dream of any athletics director: to have new facilities and upgrade the existing ones.

Question: What vision do you have for Allen athletics?

Answer: I’m not going to sit and promise we’ll win championships in every sport, every year. But I want us to be the most competitive team in any league we’re in. I want everyone to know that Allen is going to put its best foot forward. We’re going to strap it up, we’re going to lace ‘em up and play each and every contest to the best of our ability.

Question: Having seen sports at the Division II level, what is its importance on a campus the size of Allen’s?

Answer: I think it’s a very integral part of the college experience, from the D-I program right on down to the D-III program. It’s a part of (the experience), the youngsters look forward to the Saturday afternoon (football games), the Tuesday and Saturday basketball games, the cross country and track meets, the baseball contests. They look forward to those endeavors; they want to be a part of it from the fan’s perspective to the participants. And you can see that now; because the kids want to play. They don’t always consider the outcomes of such cases as the pandemic we’re going through now, but they all want to play. And this is why I like the D-II model, because in D-II, the youngsters know they’re not all going to go to the professional level. That’s why the doctrine is, they’re going to go pro in something other than sports.

Question: What are the challenges for Allen in the Midlands market?

Answer: Well, the challenges here for Allen in this community, we’re playing against a D-I (USC), and three other D-II schools: Benedict, Columbia College and Columbia International University. So we’ve got our work cut out for us. There are also outstanding high school programs here, too. So we’ve got to step up so we can be recognized among all those programs within this community. Our challenge is to be recognized, seen and heard as an outstanding athletics program. Our identity has got to be there.