Cheyney University of Pennsylvania is dropping football as a sponsored sport.

The decision was confirmed by head football coach Chris Roulhac who told delcotimes.com that the decision was made by Cheyney President Aaron Walton.

“We were invited to a meeting with the president on Wednesday and told that due to budgetary restraints, the football program was being discontinued,” said Roulhac, who returned for his second stint as head coach at CU in 2015. “It’s been a very sad last 24 hours, but there is really nothing we can do about it. You hear rumors, but we always held out hope that the program could be saved.”

“(Walton) told us that he has to make budget cuts in order to keep the school open,” Roulhac said. “And because football is the most expensive sport to fund, he had decided to drop the sport. He also said that no other sports would be affected at this time, but he left open the possibility that the situation could be reassessed at a later date.”

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, of which Cheyney is a member, released a statement Thursday.

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is aware of Cheyney University’s announcement of dropping football from its sports sponsorship menu.

We have been in contact with Cheyney University President Aaron Walton as he and his staff deliberated potential actions. The communications between the Conference and President Walton have been objective and forthright on both sides.

These are very difficult times financially for many institutions of higher education in the country and the Commonwealth. Cheyney’s decision is a result of that.

The Conference Office will work with its member institutions to find potential opponents in the 10 now open dates in mandated league schedules.