Update: On Tuesday, Dec. 21, Fordham Athletics announced that the men’s basketball team’s game against Georgia Southern University on Dec. 22 is canceled. Unlike the women’s basketball game, it will not be rescheduled. Portions of this article have been revised to reflect this information.

The Fordham women’s basketball team postponed its home game against Fairleigh Dickinson University on Sunday, Dec. 19, due to an increase in COVID-19 cases within the Fordham community. In addition to the postponement, fans will be barred from home games in the Rose Hill Gymnasium until at least Jan. 2.

In a statement on Dec. 19, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Ed Kull stressed the importance of protecting student athletes, even at the expense of fan attendance. Since assuming his position in February 2021, Kull has had to enforce similar protocols at several points this year.

“While we are disappointed our fans cannot attend the next three basketball games, our priority is to ensure a safe environment for all of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, and fans,” Kull said.

The department plans to reassess the attendance policies before Jan. 5.

The original announcement concerning the women’s team came in an email sent to the Fordham community by Vice President for Administration & COVID-19 Coordinator Marco Valera on Friday, Dec. 17. After a week in which the university’s number of cases “nearly doubled,” Valera announced new protocols for extracurricular activities while in-person procedures for final exams and class meetings through Dec. 22 remain in place. 

While the men’s and women’s basketball teams are not currently on pause, which would occur if a positive test was found in either program, Valera went on to say that his office would monitor student athletes and staff members closely. All protocols in place now are a result of an increase in cases among the student body, but further developments within the programs themselves could lead to more postponements and cancellations.

Valera also stated that fans would not be permitted to attend home basketball games until Jan. 18. According to a follow up email from Fordham Athletics, the department plans to reassess the attendance policies before Jan. 5, when the women’s team is scheduled to take on Saint Louis University.

In addition to the postponed and canceled games against Fairleigh Dickinson and Georgia Southern, at least two more Fordham basketball games will be impacted by these new protocols. The men’s team is scheduled to play at Rose Hill on Jan. 2 against the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Meanwhile, the women’s team will play Florida Gulf Coast University at home on Dec. 29.

Both of these games will now be contested in an empty arena. As of this article’s publication, Fordham reported 215 COVID-19 cases between Dec. 5 and Dec. 18, the highest total for the university since March 2021.