They continue to cling to a mythology that student-athletes are no different than any other students and therefore cannot be treated differently in any material way. (Which ignores the fact that such students are already treated very differently from an admissions perspective and in terms of multi-million departments existing to support their activities).

Alibaba's Joe Tsai (former Yale lacrosse player) offered to foot the bill for a bubbled Ivy lacrosse season. When he got pushback about favoring lacrosse athletes over those in other sports, he offered to pick up the tab for all the other spring sports as well. No dice. It is widely believed that the Ivy Presidents weren't willing to be seen as expanding this type of effort on behalf of athletes while not doing something similar for other student activities.

It's not that the Ivy League couldn't figure out a way to compete safely in light of the health risks. It's that they were unwilling to take steps on behalf of student-athletes that they weren't taking on behalf of everyone. At which point one wonders why you even bother having an athletic department.