The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will not let parents of college football players attend the games of their own children, WBTV in Charlotte reported.
HHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen on Thursday rejected a request from six universities in North Carolina to let immediate family members to support their closest relatives.
Cohen also said she did not think university football should resume under any circumstances.
The universities that sent the letter on Aug. 8 are Appalachian State University, UNC Charlotte, UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, East Carolina University and Wake Forest University.
“Like everyone else, our student-athletes, coaches and support staff have experienced tremendous disruption and upheaval over the past six months due to COVID-19 and its associated challenges,” the schools wrote. “Immediate family members are the single greatest source of emotional, psychological, and mental health support for football participants.”
The state’s tyrannical mandate limits outdoor gatherings to 50 people.
The universities that signed onto the letter asked the state’s health bureaucracy to let 350 family members attend college football games.
That would fill 2.3 percent of UNC Charlotte’s stadium, which is the smallest of the group.
“Many of these family members have already made plans to come to our campuses to support our student-athletes and support staff and, in all likelihood, many of them will still come to our campuses regardless of whether they are allowed inside the stadium or not,” the letter said.
Sen. Joyce Krawiec, R-Forsyth, called the decision of the state’s health bureaucracy “unconscionable.”
“It simply defies logic that a few dozen moms and dads sitting in a huge, empty football stadium is some sort of imminent risk. Parents can sit in the bleachers at a little league baseball game, but they can’t watch their children play college football,” she said in a press release.
“Parents dedicated years of their lives to help their children develop into Division I athletes, and now Gov. Cooper is prohibiting them from even watching their kids play.”
