About 200 Birmingham-Southern College students and student-athletes rallied on campus Wednesday, marching with signs, chanting and shouting in support of scholarship Division I athletics at the small liberal arts school.

While they wrote letters to encourage trustees to vote against a possible move to non-scholarship Division III when the issue comes up at a meeting May 26, members of the BSC faculty were approving a resolution to urge the board to withdraw from Division I "at the earliest possible time."

History professor Ed LaMonte said the hastily called faculty meeting resulted in the acceptance of a resolution that says a move to Division III would benefit the school "in terms of its liberal arts mission and philosophy," as well as help in "securing its financial future." The vote to approve the resolution was 49-9 with one abstention, he said.