If students had the final say, an Ivy League football team would be playing in the postseason next fall.
Last weekend, the Ivy Council -- a collection of Ivy schools' student governments -- passed a resolution calling for a reevaluation of the current ban on postseason football play by the Council of Ivy Group Presidents.
The resolution follows a similar proposal passed by Penn's Undergraduate Assembly one week before.
Currently, football teams in the Ivy League are not allowed to participate in the Division I-AA playoffs due to a decision by the presidents of the eight institutions.
The Ivy League is the only football conference that bans its teams from competing in the postseason.
"Most of the student governments realized that the issue was something that a lot of their constituents had strong feelings about," College senior and UA Executive Vice Chairman Zack Rosenblum said.
"There's been a lot of discussion and support for repealing the ban on campus from undergraduates in general in addition to athletes," Rosenblum said.
The Ivy Council took on the issue because it affects students from all eight schools, student government representatives said.
"By [the Ivy Council] taking it on, it gives just one more voice in favor of reevaluating the ban," College senior and Ivy Council Vice President for Internal Affairs Eli Hoffman said.
The group noted the inconsistencies in the current policies as compared to other sports.
At Penn, for example, out of 33 intercollegiate athletic programs, only football is banned from vying for a national championship.
The Ivy Council says that the reasoning often used to support the ban is not justifiable.
One objection to postseason play is that the football playoffs would interfere with finals at some of the schools.
But the resolution notes that football is not the only one, as this occurs in sports including soccer and volleyball.
"The students deserve a rationale or answer as to why the ban should still exist," Rosenblum said.
While only six universities took part in the weekend discussions (Harvard and Yale did not attend), according to Hoffman, all eight Ivy student governments are in agreement on this issue.
Now, each student government will go back to its own university with the hope of meeting with their administrations.
The Council's resolution, along with other efforts across campus and the Ivy League, "will be one of the factors that will hopefully bring about a change," Rosenblum said.
