MnSCU lifts its ban on travel to North Carolina
The ban on travel to the state of North Carolina for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities sports teams lasted a couple days.
St. Cloud State University and St. Cloud Technical & Community College are part of MnSCU. On Tuesday, MnSCU presidents banned nonessential state business travel to North Carolina. North Carolina enacted a law that bars transgender people from bathrooms and locker rooms that do not match the gender on their birth certificates.
On April 2, Gov. Mark Dayton directed that all employees of state agencies cease all nonessential state business travel to North Carolina until further notice. MnSCU is not a state agency, but on Monday, its presidents voted that "athletics-related travel is non-essential for purposes of this directive."
MnSCU bans sports teams from travel to North Carolina
Thursday, Doug Anderson, MnSCU's director of communication and media, issued a statement on the ban being lifted.
"On May 4, the U.S. Justice Department notified North Carolina that the legislation in question, House Bill 2, violates the U.S. Civil Rights Act and ordered the state to remedy the violation by not enforcing the law," the statement said. "In light of the intervention from the U.S. Justice Department, the presidents of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities are confident that the deplorable discrimination embedded in North Carolina's legislation is being addressed.
"Therefore, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities have lifted their ban on travel to North Carolina."
The ban could have affected the baseball teams at St. Cloud State and St. Cloud Technical & Community College. St. Cloud State is an NCAA Division II school and the Division II baseball World Series will be held May 28-June 4 in Cary, North Carolina. St. Cloud Technical & Community College is an NJCAA Division III school and the Division III baseball World Series will be held May 28-June 2 in Kinston, North Carolina.
The Cyclones (27-6) are ranked No. 8 in the latest Division III national poll. St. Cloud Technical & Community College coach Jason Fischer could not be reached for comment.
The Huskies are the top-ranked team in the latest Division II Central Regional. The winner of the regional tournament will advance to the World Series.
"A total relief," St. Cloud State baseball coach Pat Dolan said of his reaction to the reversal. "(Wednesday) and the day before, you don't want to express your true feelings because you want to be polite and professional and you hope that the higher-ups make a decision to help.
"It would have been very unfortunate for whatever group of seniors this might have affected. We still have a little work to do."
Wednesday, the Huskies swept Minnesota-Duluth in a doubleheader to improve their chances to repeat as NSIC champions. Dolan said that St. Cloud State Athletic Director Heather Weems addressed the team before Wednesday's games.
"She addressed the team in batting practice and she's got such a cool, calm and collected way about her and I'm sure she was frustrated at that moment, too," Dolan said. "She just told them to control what we can do and try to win some games. Once we got into the game, I don't think anybody was thinking about it.
"I told the guys afterwards that losing games and facing tough situations is why athletes go on and are successful in life. There's a lot of adversity that you're going to go through. This gets you prepared for the real world."
The Bulldogs (26-6 NSIC, 33-11 overall) lead the conference standings with the Huskies (21-6, 36-6). Minnesota-Duluth plays host to Mary (6-25, 8-37) for four games Friday and Saturday. St. Cloud State plays four games Friday and Saturday at Minot State (5-20, 8-31).
"It's not going to be easy, but we have a chance and we've got something to play for," Dolan said.
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