At this fall’s club sports officer training, team leaders were informed of new consequences for allowing Rhode Island School of Design students on their teams. According to meeting materials obtained by The Herald, club sports teams will receive “one warning before probation” if they allow a RISD student to participate.
While the guideline that RISD students cannot participate in Brown club sports has not changed in recent years, the new consequence was introduced “given a recent rise in the number of ineligible club sports participants,” Associate Director of Athletics and Recreation Amy Dean wrote in an email to The Herald.
Club sports are divided into a five-tier system, with teams in higher tiers receiving benefits like an increased budget, more practices and priority for scheduling of games and practices. Club teams put on probation are classified as Tier D, the lowest tier. Tier D teams receive no funding from club sports, final priority for scheduling and are limited to two practices a week.
“Given the capacity limitations of our club sports programs, these eligibility requirements ensure that we can provide meaningful participation opportunities for as many Brown students as possible,” Dean wrote. She added that club sports leagues often restrict students from different institutions competing together on the same team.
Participation in club sports “is, and has been, open to full-time Brown students and RISD students who are enrolled in a full-time dual-degree program with Brown,” Dean wrote. “RISD students are still able to access many Brown recreational facilities,” Dean added.
Ziqi Shen ’27, a captain of the club badminton team, said that if the team were to host a RISD student, they would lose many of the benefits that the team currently enjoys. Consequences would include losing access to team weightlifting sessions at the Zucconi Strength and Conditioning Center, he added.
As RISD does not have their own badminton court, “it does not make sense for (the RISD students) to build up their own team because they don’t have the facilities themselves,” he said.
Registration in RISD club sports is limited to RISD students, according to RISD spokesperson Danielle Mancuso.
Yang Yi, a RISD senior who previously skied for Team China at the Youth Olympic Games, said that Brown Athletics permitted him to be on the Brown Club Ski Racing team for more than two years before removing him last December.
Yi earned the team’s sole male individual spot in the 2025 U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association Eastern Regionals and was referred to as “one of Brown’s top skiers this season” in a February 2025 press release by Brown Recreation.
“I was part of the team for a very long time. The sudden change broke a community for me,” Yi said.
Brown Athletics did not specifically comment on exceptions to the prohibition of RISD students.
Brown Club Fencing held several practices with RISD fencers and were excited about the possibility of competing with them, according to club fencing co-captain Kerem Koyluoglu ’27. After contacting Brown Athletics about including RISD fencers on their competition roster, they were denied and instructed to stop practicing with RISD students.
“I really feel as though a great opportunity was lost to grow the fencing community among our schools, to have better practices with a more diverse set of individuals and honestly to support each other through practices,” Koyluoglu said.
Isaac Fernandezlopez ’27, a captain of the club water polo team, echoed this sentiment, writing in an email to The Herald that “this prohibition … limit(s) community engagement with our club, which is necessary for our very survival.”
“Of course, we have a vibrant Brown University community, but being able to include RISD athletes could only help us,” he added.
Club sports captains across various teams reported having to turn away interested RISD students.
Evan diVittorio ’27, a captain of the club triathlon team, wrote in an email to The Herald that it is “super unfortunate” that interested RISD students could not practice and compete with his team because they have “triathlon experience and would have been awesome upperclassmen mentors.”
Some RISD students were unaware of the rule in the first place.
“We had a few students come to our booth at the club fair and unfortunately had to turn them away,” Sara Gonzalez ’27, a captain for women’s club soccer, wrote in an email to The Herald. “It affects us during tryouts, when we have to turn away girls who are interested in playing but can’t due to the rule.”
Brown Athletics did not specifically comment on how RISD student ineligibility is communicated to RISD students.
Aino Smith ’27, who is a captain for the club gymnastics team, has also had to turn away prospective RISD gymnasts, she said. “We have to reject them and say, ‘Oh, so you can't participate in any club sport at Brown,’ which they don't seem to be aware of.”
Izabella Piatkowski is a senior staff writer covering the Rhode Island School of Design.
