October 29, 2025 – The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics announced the America East Conference and The Summit League as C.A.R.E. Champions following the leagues’ adoption and implementation of all designation requirements. A C.A.R.E. Champion Connects Athletics Revenues with the Educational model of college sports by prioritizing college athletes’ education, health, safety, well-being, equity, and opportunity in financial incentives and athletics spending.
Five Division I conferences have now achieved C.A.R.E. Champion distinction with the America East Conference and The Summit League joining the Big Sky Conference, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and The Southern Conference as C.A.R.E. Champions.
Brad Walker, Commissioner, America East Conference
“The America East Conference is humbled and grateful to receive C.A.R.E. Champion status from the Knight Commission. America East and its member institutions will carry this distinction with pride through our equitable core values and processes as we continue to enhance the student-athlete experience within our conference.”
Josh Fenton, Commissioner, The Summit League
“The Summit League is honored and excited to achieve C.A.R.E. Champion status. Thank you to the Knight Commission for this recognition. This acknowledgement is a testament to our membership and their commitment to enhancing the experiences of our student-athletes in a sustainable and equitable approach.”
Knight Commission Co-Chair Len Elmore said, “With so much uncertainty swirling in college sports, the America East Conference and The Summit League are to be commended for firmly stating their core values and ensuring that those values are reflected in the conferences’ revenue distribution policies. The America East Conference and The Summit League join the other C.A.R.E. Champions as Division I leaders in aligning financial incentives with educational values.”
Knight Commission Co-Chair Pamela Bernard said, “Earning the C.A.R.E. Champion distinction demonstrates the America East Conference and The Summit League’s respective commitment to putting principles into practice and prioritizing college athletes’ education, gender equity, and opportunity. We congratulate these conferences for their leadership.”
The C.A.R.E. Model (Connecting Athletics Revenues with the Educational Model of College Sports) was developed by the Knight Commission to assist conferences and national entities in bolstering accountability and to ensure that both the distribution and spending of shared athletics revenue prioritize college athletes’ education, health, safety, well-being, equity, and opportunity. This holistic model supports the educational mission of college sports and includes four principles and requirements:
- Transparency
- Independent Oversight
- Incentives for Core Values of Education, Gender Equity, and Opportunity
- Financial Responsibility for Education, Health, Safety, and Well-Being
C.A.R.E. Champions meet criteria indicating that their conference distributions have appropriate incentives for the core values of education, gender equity, and opportunity. Regarding gender equity incentives, the criteria require that any conference awarding financial incentives for athletics success must do so equally for its men’s and women’s teams on an annual basis.
As C.A.R.E. Champion Conferences, the America East and The Summit League will each receive a $25,000 grant from the Knight Commission to implement the C.A.R.E. Model principles and educate institutional leaders, staff, college athletes, and other stakeholders about how this new framework positively impacts college athletes’ experiences.
About the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics
The Knight Commission, founded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in 1989, is an independent group that leads transformational change to prioritize college athletes’ education, health, safety, and success. For more information about the Commission’s impact, recommendations, and reports, visit knightcommission.org.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit kf.org.
Contact information:
Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics
Steve Delsohn
steve@delsohn.com
America East Conference
Sean Tainsh
tainsh@americaeast.com
The Summit League
Ryan Powell
powell@thesummitleague.org