Dartmouth men’s basketball votes in favor of joining labor union: 'Stuck in the past'

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The Dartmouth men’s basketball team has taken a historic first step in challenging the norms of college athletics, voting Tuesday to unionize. 

The team voted 13-2 to join Service Employees International Union Local 560, which already represents some of the school’s employees, in an election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board.

Romeo Myrthil #20 (C) of the Dartmouth Big Green watches as his team play against Columbia Lions in their NCAA men's basketball game on February 16, 2024 in New York City. After last week's National Labor Relations Board ruling that Dartmouth's men's basketball players are employees of the school, the team members will vote next month on whether to create the first labor union for NCAA athletes.  (Adam Gray/Getty Images)

"Today is a big day for our team," Dartmouth juniors Cade Haskins and Romeo Myrthil said, via The Associated Press. 

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"We stuck together all season and won this election. It is self-evident that we, as students, can also be both campus workers and union members. Dartmouth seems to be stuck in the past. It’s time for the age of amateurism to end."

The vote to unionize was met with immediate pushback from the school, which quickly filed an appeal to the NLRB with hopes of overturning a decision last month that set the grounds for this week’s vote. 

"For Ivy League students who are varsity athletes, academics are of primary importance, and athletic pursuit is part of the educational experience," the school said in a statement. 

Dartmouth Big Green head coach David McLaughlin looks on during the college basketball game between the