NCAA approves football forfeits in Marrow case

Penn forfeited the five games Mitch Marrow played while ineligible. Officially ending a football eligibility scandal that forced Penn to forfeit five wins from the 1997 season, the National Collegiate Athletic Association last week approved the University's handling of the matter and recommended no further action. In a letter dated January 23 and received by the University Tuesday, the NCAA approved Penn's decision to forfeit the five Quakers wins in which football star Mitch Marrow played while academically ineligible. After news of the fifth-year College senior's ineligibility broke after the season ended in November, a University committee investigated the controversy and reported its findings -- in which it recommended the forfeits -- to the Ivy League January 2. "The actions of the institution in this instance were representative of and consistent with NCAA policies and principles," NCAA representative Cynthia Gabel wrote in the letter. "No further action need be taken in this case." NCAA bylaws state that athletes must have full-time student status to play varsity sports. But Marrow -- a 6'5", 280-pound defensive tackle and pro prospect -- dropped two of four classes at the beginning of the semester, making him a part-time student and rendering him ineligible for competition. "I didn't even realize [Penn] had sent a letter to [the Ivy League]," Marrow said yesterday. "I wasn't concerning myself with it because I was so busy with the Senior Bowl and everything." Marrow played in the Senior Bowl, an all-star game for top collegiate players held in Mobile, Ala., on January 17. He declined to comment further. Penn's decision to forfeit the five Quakers wins dropped the Quakers' 1997 record from 6-4 to 1-9. The forfeits are the first in Penn's 100 years of intercollegiate athletic competition. "As far as I'm concerned, the case is over," Athletic Director Steve Bilsky said. The four-member University committee that investigated the controversy concluded that the Athletic Department was responsible for monitoring Marrow's eligibility status. At the same time, the report said that although neither Marrow nor Penn intentionally violated NCAA bylaws, Marrow, as a student-athlete, "bears responsibility for understanding the eligibility rules that apply to him." The events leading to the scandal began September 9, when a case of mononucleosis forced Marrow to drop two of his four classes. For nearly 2 1/2 months, no one in the Athletic Department noticed Marrow was ineligible, despite weekly reports indicating his status. On November 19, Marrow's mother, Sandra, called Athletics Coordinator Robert Koonce to inquire if her son's tuition bill would be reduced to reflect his part-time status, setting off a chain of events that led some high-ranking professors to wonder whether Athletics officials were trying to cover up Marrow's ineligibility. Associate Athletic Director Denis Elton Cochran-Fikes initially contacted College Director of Advising Diane Frey to see if Marrow could be re-enrolled in one of the courses he dropped. Frey turned down that request, but approved a different one on November 21 that allowed Marrow to engage in an independent study with Legal Studies Professor Kenneth Shropshire, the University's NCAA faculty representative. Marrow, then a full-time student, was allowed to compete in the season finale against Cornell November 22, in which the Quakers defeated the Big Red, 33-20. Under NCAA rules, however, only the NCAA could restore Marrow's eligibility. The report concluded that the Athletic Department's attempts to restore Marrow's full-time status were "inadvertent." The committee did not recommend disciplinary action against anyone involved in the case. The Monday after the Cornell game, The Philadelphia Inquirer contacted Frey and her supervisor, then-College Dean Robert Rescorla, about the Marrow case, prompting Frey to ask Rescorla to review her decision. Rescorla overturned the decision on November 25, once again rendering Marrow a part-time student. The Inquirer broke the story November 27. The controversy made national headlines after the Associated Press picked it up.