On April 7, the NCAA announced a new partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to create a youth basketball initiative intended to nurture athletic improvement as well as the social and educational development of 6- to 17-year-old players. According to the NCAA, the new initiative will have its own president and will include board…
A Hartford Courant article quotes Knight Commission Executive Director Amy Perko: “There is a myth that exists that going to a bowl game is a financial windfall for the university.” While the University of Connecticut received $1.2 million from the Big East Conference for its participation in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, the university spent…
The Gridiron Bash, a series of concerts tied in to spring (i.e., exhibition) football games at some of the country’s largest universities, has been cancelled by its promoters after the NCAA pointed out that having athletes participate and giving them free tickets would be violations of its rules. The concerts had been scheduled to take…
Graduation Rates and 2008 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Teams Forty-one of the 65 teams in the 2008 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament are graduating at least 50 percent of their players, according to a report published by the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports. The figures are calculated by…
The summit included a presentation of findings from the Faculty Perceptions of Intercollegiate Athletics Survey. The survey presentation served as the context for panelists and interactive sessions relating to the role of faculty engagement in athletics issues, faculty governance, academic integrity, case studies of athletics crises, and strategies for faculty to consider.
Key findings from Faculty Perceptions on Intercollegiate Athletics survey to be discussed EVENT: The Knight Commission will host a Faculty Summit on Intercollegiate Athletics to discuss what college faculty members really think about college sports and whether they are adequately engaged with issues affecting academics and athletics. The event is free and open to…
On the heels of the NCAA’s announcement that 112 Division I teams will be penalized for failing to meet minimum academic performance standards, and are aware that tougher times are ahead, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics strongly urged college presidents to resist pressure to weaken the reforms. The Commission heard and discussed an NCAA report on Division I academic performance standards and also heard Big 12 Commissioner Kevin Weiberg discuss sweeping rules changes addressing academic underperformance by baseball players. Also at the meeting, NCAA officials released financial data showing that only 7 percent (22 of 313) of Division I athletics departments generated more money than they spent when institutional subsidies such as student fees are excluded—contrary to the public perception that athletics departments generate profits for their institutions.
Statement by Knight Commission Co-Chairman R. Gerald Turner, President, Southern Methodist University, in response to the NCAA’s release of academic data today: “We have reached a critical juncture on the road to academic reform. The NCAA has announced that at least 112 of the more than 6,000 teams in Division I will be subject to…
William E. “Brit” Kirwan, Chancellor of the University System of Maryland, presides over first meeting as co-chairman; NFL Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti and Northwestern President Henry Bienen join Commission Who: R. Gerald Turner, President of Southern Methodist University and Co-Chairman of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics William E. “Brit” Kirwan, Chancellor, University System…