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Colleges Add Sports to Bring Men, But It Doesn’t Always Work

Hope is that having a team will increase enrollment, especially of men, whose ranks in college have been falling.

Author

Steve Ulrich
September 19, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

SEPTEMBER 18, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH
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🗞️ In Today’s Edition. Colleges Add Sports to Bring Men, But It Doesn’t Always Work. How to Survive as an Admissions Official. Concordia University Wisconsin to Join CCIW. Fall Ball Scrimmage Schedule. How Good Is The Wine? Depends On The Animal On The Label

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TOP STORY

1. Colleges Add Sports to Bring Men, But It Doesn’t Always Work

“On a hot and humid August morning in this southwestern Virginia town, football training camp is in full swing at Roanoke College. It’s the first day of practice for a Roanoke College varsity football team since 1942, when the college dropped football in the midst of World War II.

Roanoke is one of about a dozen schools that have added football programs in the last two years, with several more set to do so in 2026. They hope that having a team will increase enrollment, especially of men, whose ranks in college have been falling. Yet research consistently finds that while enrollment may spike initially, adding football does not produce long-term enrollment gains, or if it does, it is only for a few years.”

» Field Awareness. “Women outnumber men by about 60 percent to 40 percent at four-year colleges nationwide. Roanoke is a part of this trend. In 2019, the college had 1,125 women students and 817 men. This fall, Roanoke will have 1,738 students altogether, about half men and half women. But the incoming freshman class is more than 55 percent male.”

» Quotable. “Do I think adding sports strategically is helping the college maintain its enrollment base? It absolutely has for us,” said Roanoke president Frank Shushok, Jr.  “And it has in a time when men in particular aren’t going to college.”

» Yes, But. “A 2024 University of Georgia study examined the effects of adding football on a school’s enrollment. “What you see is basically a one-year spike in male enrollment around guys who come to that school to help be part of starting up a team, but then that effect fades out over the next couple of years,” said Welch Suggs, an associate professor there and the lead author of that study. It found early modest enrollment spikes at colleges that added football compared to peers that didn’t and “statistically indistinguishable” differences after the first two years.”

» Reality Check. “Like most Division III athletes, the Roanoke players know that they have little chance of making football a professional career. Ethan Mapstone, a sophomore, said there are other reasons to embrace the sport. “It’s a great blessing to be able to do what we do,” he said. “There’s many people that I speak to who are older and, and they reminisce about the times that they had to play football, and it’s very limited time.” (Hechinger Report)

2. How to Survive as an Admissions Official

“It’s a trying time to be an admissions dean.

More than two years after the Supreme Court ruled that colleges and universities could no longer consider race in admissions decisions, the Trump administration has launched a crusade to ensure institutions are abiding by that decision. Government officials have demanded colleges submit detailed data on the racial makeup of their admitted students, cast suspicion on so-called proxies for race in the admissions process and required some universities to reform their admissions practices—without specifying what, exactly, needed changing. (The administration has also used the decision as justification to call for the cancellation of other diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, from scholarships to student lounges.)

Then again, according to Angel Pérez, a longtime admissions dean and the CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, it’s never not a trying time to be an admissions dean.”

» Driving The News. “I always have believed that that admissions deans are chief storytellers of an institution. The reason I say that is because they have such a large constituency. They’re not just telling stories on their campus; they’re also telling the story of the institution outside of campus, right?”

» Quotable. “One of the quotes [that] I use in every presentation I do right now is from Justin Trudeau, and this quote just blows me away. He said it at the World Economic Forum: “The pace of change has never been this fast and it will never be this slow again.” To me, that is our new reality.” (Inside Higher Ed)

3. Concordia University Wisconsin to Join CCIW as 10th Member in 2027-28

“Concordia University Wisconsin will become the 10th member of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) after the league’s Council of Presidents officially voted to accept CUW’s application for membership on Friday, Sept. 12. The Falcons will officially join the conference as a core member beginning in 2027-28.

“The CCIW is delighted to welcome Concordia University Wisconsin to our storied conference,” Chair of the CCIW Council of Presidents and Carthage College President John Swallow said. “We look forward to all that their student-athletes will bring to athletic competition and our intercollegiate community."

» Worth Noting. “CUW has been a charter member of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) since 2006. The university has also competed as an associate member of the CCIW in men’s wrestling since 2015. CUW will be the first institution to join the CCIW as a core member since Carroll returned to the CCIW after a 24-year absence in 2016, and the first new member to join since 1962. The Falcons sponsor 30 sports overall – 25 NCAA sports, two emerging NCAA sports and three non-NCAA sports. CUW sponsors 22 of the CCIW’s 26 sports.”

» Quotable. “This is an exciting new chapter in the life of our university,” said CUW President Dr. Erik Ankerberg. “Membership in the CCIW reflects Concordia’s deep commitment to excellence and to providing our student athletes with opportunities to compete and grow at the highest levels. The CCIW is an excellent fit for our mission, our size, and our aspirations.” (CCIW)

4. Fall Ball Scrimmage Schedule

“This resource below catalogs the men’s events. Note that not all are open to the public, and times can fluctuate greatly given the informal and unofficial nature of fallball. Please confirm directly with an institution before attending any event. This only includes intercollegiate events and not alumni events. It is also an ever-changing list and will be updated as more events are finalized and some change.”

  • Sept. 28 (W): American at Catholic

  • Oct. 11: Colorado College at Denver

  • Oct. 18: Canisius, Detroit Mercy, John Carroll at Western Reserve Academy

  • Oct. 19: Lynchburg. Queens at Wingate

  • Oct. 25: Rivier, UMass-Boston at Roger Williams

  • Oct. 25: Salisbury, Washington and Lee at VMI

  • Oct. 29: Mount St. Mary’s, Rutgers at Gettysburg

Want your scrimmage listed here? Email us at [email protected]

5. Comings and Goings 


Want your transaction listed here? Email us at [email protected]

6. How Good Is The Wine? Depends On The Animal On The Label

“You’re in a rush and you need to grab a bottle of wine for a special occasion. You’ve got $40 and no preference for red or white, but you like wines with animal labels. Which wine are you buying?

Couldn’t decide? Maybe this info will help: cats have high ratings at a high price, birds are the middle of the pack for both price and quality, pigs are more likely to be cheap and low-rated, and amphibians/reptiles are more likely to be overvalued: higher prices for lower quality.” (The Pudding)

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