The long wait is over. The Big Ten has spoken. For many, the emotional rollercoaster has ended in a disappointing conclusion, which is that the fall football season is postponed.

I appreciate that a number of you have shared with me your thoughts on the big question: to play or not to play?

Personally, I was impressed with the efforts of Coach Frost – with the assistance of UNMC – to keep our players and staff as protected as possible.

Alas, the Big Ten commissioners felt it was too risky to move forward with a fall football season due to the pandemic. Regents do not have any decision-making capability on this front, except to express our opinions to the conference committee members. Their decision is the result of a vote, primarily based on consultations with AD’s, coaches, and university Presidents. There were a number of concerns about issues of travel and the risk of exposure via teams that could not or did not establish enough effective safety protocols.

So, what are we looking at now? Well, when it comes to football, the season is postponed and there are ongoing discussions about a shortened spring season followed by a full fall season in 2021.

I understand that players and parents are all terribly disappointed and continuing to press for a season starting later this fall, perhaps. It is painful for all of us who know how hard our student athletes and their families work for a chance to play.

While we grapple with this decision to postpone football, we should also be mindful of our other athletes who are being affected by this pandemic. Women’s volleyball immediately comes to mind. I love the sport and our team. The hope for this season was immense and could have ended with them playing in the Final Four, originally scheduled to be played right here in Omaha. I don’t mention this to be a downer, I mention this in solidarity with all our student athletes and coaches.

But we also have to keep in mind that our participation in the Big Ten has ramifications beyond athletics.

Joining the conference has numerous commitments including research, access to resources, and learning opportunities, not to mention the financial impact. I’ve heard the idea of leaving the Big Ten floated by some, but if we did that in order to play other teams, we would be walking away from our rights to our own media contracts and invaluable resources for our academics. Painful as it is, we have to wait and see how this all moves forward.

The biggest question we should focus on now, is what can we do to change this?  

We can wear masks. We can socially distance. We can wash our hands. If enough of us commit to these CDC-recommended guidelines, we can change the statistics of infection rates, save physical harm the virus threatens us with long after initial infection, and avoid more deaths.

Help in the ways that you can and know that everyone at the university is doing everything we can to ensure the success, health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff.

Our university has an incredible future. We’ll find our way there together.

*Barbara’s thoughts as written by Kate based on weekly (fascinating) conversations.