Sept. 14, 2001

After further consideration, the Lehigh at Pennsylvania football game has been cancelled due to Tuesday's tragedy. The following statement was received from the Pennsylvania Athletics Department at 7:00 on Thursday evening.

The University of Pennsylvania Athletic Department announced that it has cancelled competition of its intercollegiate athletic programs through the weekend.

"We gave much thought to the issue and continued to discuss it with our faculty and students throughout the course of the day as we all sought to restore some sense normalcy while continuing to grieve through this national tragedy," Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky said.

"The continued intensity of discussion and emotions within our community, coupled with President Bush proclaiming Friday a 'National Day of Prayer and Remembrance,' led us to conclude that it would be more appropriate to cancel our contests."

"All of us at Lehigh respect the sentiments associated with the difficult decisions made on many campuses about whether to host and whether to participate in college athletics contests this weekend," Lehigh Director of Athletics Joe Sterrett said.

"There is not a college that has not been touched by these tragic events. We support the reconsidered decision made by the University of Pennsylvania to cancel our football game on Saturday, just as we supported the original decision to compete.

"Our educational focus has always been and will remain on assisting our student-athletes as they deal with the emotional impact of the events this week. Sports participation has been a helpful outlet for our Lehigh students, and will likely remain a valuable part of their lives on campus in the weeks to come."

The decision of whether or not to cancel other Lehigh sporting events scheduled for this week will be made on Friday.