Cheyney University is making a significant investment in athletics nearly a decade after financial challenges pushed the nation’s oldest HBCU out of NCAA competition.
The Pennsylvania HBCU broke ground this week on a new athletic facility at Carter Green, part of a larger redevelopment of its athletics infrastructure.
According to the Cheyney University National Alumni Association, the project will include a 2,500-seat athletic venue, concessions, a state-of-the-art weight room, training facilities and multipurpose rooms. The university lists the Athletics Complex groundbreaking among its major campus events for September 2026. (Cheyney University of Pennsylvania)
The facility is expected to be completed by winter 2028.
Cheyney is also developing a new NCAA-compliant, eight-lane, 400-meter track. The complex will include dedicated areas for the long jump, triple jump, discus, hammer throw, shot put, pole vault and javelin.
The track project is expected to be completed by fall 2027.
The investment represents another notable step in Cheyney’s gradual rebuilding process.
Cheyney University athletics rebuilding after NCAA departure
Cheyney was once a longtime member of NCAA Division II and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
That changed following the 2017-18 academic year.
The university announced in March 2018 that it would withdraw from both the NCAA and PSAC as part of an effort to stabilize its finances. Cheyney had already suspended football following the 2017 season. (PSAC)
At the time, Cheyney was dealing with declining enrollment, significant debt and questions surrounding its accreditation.
Cheyney’s basketball and volleyball programs continued to compete independently after the NCAA departure.
The university has not returned to NCAA membership as of the 2026-27 academic year. The NCAA lists 296 active Division II institutions for 2026-27, while Cheyney is absent from the current Division II membership structure.
Its athletics department, however, is active.
Cheyney currently sponsors men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country and track and field, along with women’s volleyball. Its 2025-26 basketball schedules included games against NCAA programs such as Delaware State, Maryland Eastern Shore, Bowie State, Virginia State, Kutztown and Lincoln University of Pennsylvania.
Cheyney University showing signs of institutional recovery
The athletics construction comes amid improved indicators for the university as a whole.
Cheyney’s accreditation, once in jeopardy, was reaffirmed by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education in June 2024. Its next self-study evaluation is scheduled for 2030-31. (MSCHE)
Enrollment has also moved in a positive direction.
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education reported that Cheyney enrollment increased 37.9 percent in fall 2025, reaching its highest level since 2014.
That makes the new athletics facilities significant beyond simply adding seats and a track.
Eight years after Cheyney concluded that NCAA Division II athletics were financially unsustainable, the university is once again investing heavily in infrastructure for student-athletes.
Whether that investment eventually becomes part of a path back toward NCAA membership remains to be seen. For now, Cheyney is rebuilding an athletics footprint that looked considerably different just a few years ago.
