Cheyney U. imposes penalties on itself for self-reported NCAA violations

Howard-Vital and Cheyney athletic director Ruffin Bell declined to say when the violations occurred. They also said they were unable to go into detail because of the NCAA investigation.

"The one thing I can say is that it is all sports," Bell said of his school's 12 programs.

This isn't the first time the university has gotten into trouble with the NCAA.

Cheyney was placed on probation from 2007 to 2010 for a series of major violations with the football team. Those violations included ineligible participation by football players, unethical conduct by former coach Lee Brown, failure to monitor, and lack of institutional control.

The team was forced to vacate its combined four wins from 2004 to 2006, when those violations occurred.

Since the latest NCAA investigation is continuing, "we don't know what their sanctions will ultimately be," Howard-Vital said.

Scholarships are awarded at the Division II level. "But we wanted to be up-front and be honest and demonstrate our own integrity by reporting this and putting sanctions on ourself," she said.

Contact staff writer Keith Pompey at 215-854-2939 or kpompey@phillynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @pompeysgridlock