by Daniel Johnson

June 8, 2025

The university shared its impactful decision with its student body in an email.

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After starting the nation’s first gymnastics program at an HBCU in 2023, Fisk University has made the decision to shutter the program at the conclusion of the 2025-2026 gymnastics season, citing recruitment disadvantages and scheduling issues as reasons for their decision.

In a press release, Valencia Jordan, the director of Fisk Athletics addressed the rationale behind the university’s choice to end its support of the gymnastics program, which helped to raise the university’s profile.

“While we are tremendously proud of the history our gymnastics team has made in just three years, we look forward to focusing on our conference-affiliated teams to strengthen our impact in the HBCU Athletic Conference,” Jordan said. “Fisk is grateful for the hard work, dedication and tenacity of its gymnasts, staff members, and coaches who made this program possible.”

As Forbes reported, the university shared its impactful decision with its student body in an email, and although both Fisk and Wilberforce University currently sponsor women’s gymnastics, the sport is not sanctioned by the HBCU Athletic Conference.

Morgan Price, the biggest star in Fisk University’s gymnastics program, got out ahead of the announcement, declaring her intent to transfer to the University of Arkansas.

Price, an Arkansas native, initially considered competing for the Razorbacks in her final season of eligibility when she signed to Fisk University, where all she did was guide the program to back to back national championships and score the first perfect 10 in HBCU gymnastics history.

The other cornerstone of Fisk’s gymnastics program, head coach Corrinnne Tarver, resigned one month into the program’s 2025 season, Tarver had led the program since its inception in the 2022-2023 season.

Even though these departures were notable, the decision to discontinue the gymnastics program led some athletes, alumni and fans to express disappointment and disagreement with the university’s decision, especially after it won five national titles and set a new program record by having seven players named to the All-American squad.

According to HBCU Gameday, the now-settled House v. NCAA lawsuit, which entitles players to direct payments from universities, has been a source of consternation from smaller schools, like HBCUs, and it hangs over the university’s decision, an ill omen, like an albatross.

According to Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Commissioner Charles McClelland, the settlement is anticipated to create financial urgency for HBCU conferences, which opt-in to the revenue-sharing model created by the settlement. For those who don’t opt in, like Fisk University, the path is uncertain and they risk losing out on athletes who may look to cash in on their talents.

“It is now allowable for institutions to directly give NIL money to their student-athletes,” McClelland said in December 2024. “That means there’s going to be an influx of athletes that are looking for NIL payments. You’re going to have to have some name, image, and likeness money set aside to compete. There’s going to be some challenging times from a financial standpoint.”

RELATED CONTENT: Morgan Price Becomes First HBCU Gymnast To Win Back-To-Back USA Gymnastics All-Around Titles

The NCAA and its five power conference leagues have come to a nearly $2.7-billion settlement in a pair of federal antitrust lawsuits, with college athletes set to be paid for the first time

The NCAA’s monumental settlement with its five power conference leagues has forever altered the landscape of college sports, marking the first time student-athletes will receive payment from their institutions.

Despite its roots in amateurism, college sports are now set to become part of an innovative revenue-sharing model where schools can pay athletes up to $20.5 million annually starting in 2025-26. Following U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken’s resolution of three separate antitrust lawsuits last week, colleges will also retroactively compensate athletes $2.8 billion for those who competed from 2016 to 2025.

This development comes on the heels of the University of Oklahoma’s announcement that it would be downsizing its athletic department staff due to revenue sharing with student-athletes, resulting in a five percent job loss. In other news, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has urged the NCAA to have just one transfer portal window instead of two.

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Beginning in the fall of 2025, athletes will start receiving direct payments from their schools through revenue-sharing, which is expected to account for roughly $20 million per year. However, this figure could potentially increase annually depending on more profitable television deals.

The decision on how each school allocates their $20 million budget each year, including how much is used to pay players, which players are paid, and how much they receive, is left to the discretion of the individual institutions.

The new revenue-sharing model won’t impact current name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals, which have revolutionized college sports since they were introduced a few years ago.

NIL deals enable players to earn money through endorsements, social media, and other business ventures. Some of these deals have even transformed young teenagers into millionaires before they’ve entered the professional game.

Fortunately for students, NIL deals are here to stay. However, the NCAA settlement includes a reporting requirement where athletes must disclose third-party NIL deals that aren’t part of the revenue-sharing allotment they receive.

NIL deals could potentially allow schools to pay more than the $20 million they can distribute to players, although it’s been reported that the NCAA plans to monitor this in the future.

Some of the funds schools will use to compensate their student athletes will come from ever-increasing TV rights packages, particularly for events like the College Football Playoff and March Madness.

Some schools are also raising costs to fans through “talent fees”, “concession price hikes”, and “athletic fees” added to tuition costs, providing another income source for them to distribute.

College football and college basketball are the two highest-earning sports, with top quarterbacks reportedly earning around $2m a year, which would consume about 10 per cent of a typical school’s NIL budget for all its athletes.

Regarding the NCAA payout to former athletes who competed between 2016-2024, this will only be accessible to those who were either fully or partially excluded from those payments under previous NCAA regulations.

The post Fisk University gymnastics program set to end next year appeared first on ClutchPoints.

Fisk University, home to the first-ever HBCU gymnastics program, has announced plans to discontinue the program in 2026. The news comes after an email was sent to students on Friday afternoon and confirmed by former Fisk University gymnast Naimah Muhammad.

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The decision to discontinue the program stems from challenges in aligning it with the athletics structure. Since gymnastics is not a sanctioned sport within the HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC), scheduling and recruiting have become increasingly difficult. Gymnastics is not a sport sponsored by the HBCUAC, which has required Fisk’s gymnastics program to independently finance parts of the program without formal support from the conference.

“While we are tremendously proud of the history our gymnastics team has made in just three years, we look forward to focusing on our conference-affiliated teams to strengthen our impact in the HBCU Athletic Conference,” said Fisk Director of Athletics Valencia Jordan. “Fisk is grateful for the hard work, dedication, and tenacity of its gymnasts, staff members, and coaches who made this program possible.”

In the three years since its inception, Fisk University has made history on multiple occasions. In February, Fisk gymnastics made history by defeating Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) and the University of Bridgeport in the same meet. This landmark victory marked the Bulldogs as the first HBCU gymnastics team to win against both an NCAA Division I and Division II team in a single competition.

Fisk University gymnasts like Muhammad and Morgan Price, who transferred to Arkansas in May, emerged as HBCU sports stars. Price made history as a pioneer in the sport of HBCU gymnastics. Price became the first gymnast from an HBCU to win the 2024 USA Collegiate National Title in West Chester, Pennsylvania, last season. Additionally, Kyrstin Johnson, a former gymnast from Talladega University, became the first HBCU gymnast to win a gold medal after winning the vault and placing third in the same all-around competition.

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Meanwhile, Muhammad made history as the first HBCU gymnast to compete at the NCAA, leading off the inaugural team on Floor at the Super 16 in Las Vegas on January 6, 2023, where she scored a 9.6.

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