R. Gerald Turner, Knight Commission Co-Chairman and President, Southern Methodist University – October 27, 2011
“We commend the NCAA for taking meaningful steps toward college sports reform today,” said Knight Commission co-chairman R. Gerald Turner, president of Southern Methodist University. “We are pleased to see proposals the Commission has championed for many years be embraced as policies to realign college sports with its values.”
“Over the past two decades, the Commission has called for policies that treat athletes as students first and that reward institutions for making academic values a priority in their athletic programs. Some of those policies were passed today. We are very pleased that the NCAA will implement the Commission’s recommended standard that teams be on track to graduate 50 percent of their players to be eligible for post-season play, including March Madness and bowl games. This standard makes a clear statement about the importance of academic success.”