January 7, 2026 – The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics announced the Patriot League as a C.A.R.E. Champion following the conference’s adoption and implementation of all requirements after being named a C.A.R.E. Model Conference Grant recipient in fall 2025. 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.
Six Division I conferences representing 62 institutions are leading the way as C.A.R.E. Champions. The Patriot League joins the America East Conference, Big Sky Conference, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, The Southern Conference, and The Summit League with this prestigious distinction.
Jennifer Heppel, Commissioner, Patriot League
“The Patriot League and our membership are truly honored to be recognized by the Knight Commission as C.A.R.E. Champions. This distinction highlights our commitment to maintaining a student-centered approach to athletics, where prioritizing academic success and personal development is paramount to all that we do. We are grateful for the recognition and reward and look forward to continuing to lead by example in promoting the C.A.R.E. Model in a way that benefits our student-athletes and our member institutions.”
Knight Commission Co-Chair Len Elmore said, “The Patriot League joins a distinguished group of conferences as a C.A.RE. Champion and should be celebrated for ensuring their values are reflected in revenue distribution policies.”
Knight Commission Co-Chair Pamela Bernard said, “We congratulate the Patriot League for its strong commitment to the academic success of college athletes, which is reflected in the fact that every member institution has qualified for NCAA academic incentives since the program’s inception.”
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
As C.A.R.E. Champions, each of the six conferences made policy changes to comply with C.A.R.E. Model criteria. These criteria indicate that conference revenue 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 a C.A.R.E. Champion Conference, the Patriot League will 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
Shoshanna Engel Lewis
shoshanna@vhconsulting.biz
Patriot League
Ryan Sakamoto
rsakamoto@patriotleague.com