The governor of New Mexico has formally asked both the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University to suspend football and other contact sports this fall.
Many small schools and conferences have postponed or cancelled football, but this becomes the first state trying to shut down bigger universities.
Here are more details on the letter from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham:
In the letter reviewed Tuesday by the Journal, Lujan Grisham, who earlier this month ordered the New Mexico Activities Association to postpone all fall contact sports at the high school level until 2021, is now urging the governor-appointed regents and university leadership at UNM and NMSU to take similar steps. The letter states it is “critical that you postpone collegiate athletics in this moment of escalating danger,” saying there is potential they could be resumed in late 2020 or early 2021.
“I know what I am asking you to contemplate is difficult and unprecedented, but these are difficult and unprecedented times,” Lujan Grisham wrote. “Fighting COVID-19 is a team sport. I am asking each of you to join me and take it upon yourselves to do everything you can to fight COVID-19. Together we can protect all New Mexicans, and if we are successful, we can resume contact sports and re-engage in the camaraderie and joy they bring all of us in a safe manner as soon as we can.”
The letter didn’t make clear if the governor wants both schools to suspend immediately any ongoing offseason workouts.
The letter also stressed that the number of young people with the virus has spiked in New Mexico, and that while it rarely causes death in that age group, it can cause long-lasting harm.
Both UNM and NMSU said while they plan to continue working closely with the governor to put the health and safety of students first, neither has yet made a final decision on the governor’s request.
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