Football At Hendrix College Again?

(Conway, AR) Football could make a return to Hendrix College. Hendrix College President J. Timothy Cloyd will create a committee to consider the return of intercollegiate football at the school. Football has been absent from Hendrix since the 1960 football season. Hendrix is presently one of only three schools in its athletic conference, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, to not have a football team. If implemented, Hendrix would join nine other football-playing schools in the conference and become the only NCAA Division III football program in Arkansas. The committee, consisting of approximately 15 people, will be headed by Chuck Chappell, a professor of English at Hendrix since 1969 and a 1964 graduate of Hendrix College. Composed of alumni, students, faculty and staff, the committee will conduct an extensive study to determine the financial feasibility, along with student and alumni interest in the program. The process is expected to take a year, and the colleges Board of Trustees would ultimately have to approve the implementation. Hendrix is scheduled to open its new 100,000 square-foot Wellness and Athletic Center this summer, a facility that includes a new artificial turf field for the colleges field hockey and lacrosse programs. The field could also accommodate a football team. Additionally, a new field house being constructed near the facility could be conformed to add football dressing facilities. (Copyright 2007 Newsroom Solutions, LLC)