Releases and Statements

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Knight Commission Issues Letter to NCAA Constitution Committee Responding to Updated Draft NCAA Constitution

On December 9, 2021 the Knight Commission co-chairs sent a letter to Robert Gates, chair, NCAA Constitution Committee, to offer reactions to the updated draft NCAA Constitution shared in a December 7, 2021 memorandum. The letter suggests incorporating several important modifications regarding governance and Board composition, and clarity on the Association’s legal liability and services.…

Intercollegiate Coaches Association Coalition Members Endorse C.A.R.E. Model

Intercollegiate Coach Association Coalition Supports Knight Commission Model for Division I Transformation (November 10, 2021) – Twenty-One members of the Intercollegiate Coach Association Coalition (ICAC), representing over thirty intercollegiate sports of which 240,000 NCAA athletes compete support the Knight Commission proposal to tie revenue distribution and spending in NCAA Division I programs to the broad…

Knight Commission Issues Letter to NCAA Board of Directors Calling for Independent Members

On October 20, 2021 the Knight Commission co-chairs sent a letter to President Jere Morehead, Chair, NCAA Division I Board of Directors, calling for independent representation on the committee to be appointed to oversee rewriting Division I rules following expected changes to the NCAA Constitution this coming January. This committee will have significant impact on the…

Jonathan Alger To Join Knight Commission

Knight Foundation president and CEO Alberto Ibargüen and Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics Co-Chairs Arne Duncan, Len Elmore and Dr. Nancy L. Zimpher have announced the appointment of Jonathan Alger, president, James Madison University as a member of the Knight Commission. Alger is in his tenth year as president at James Madison. He is a…

Knight Commission Releases New Report in its Transforming the D-I Model Series

[Connecting Athletics Revenues with the Educational Model of College Sports (C.A.R.E. Model)]

C.A.R.E. Model Report and Resources Page September 15, 2021—The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics today released a major proposal to require the NCAA, the College Football Playoff (CFP), and Division I conferences to more closely connect the distribution and spending of billions in shared athletics revenue distributions with the broad educational mission of NCAA Division…

Knight Commission Sends Letter to NCAA Constitution Committee

On August 31, 2021, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics’ co-chairs sent a letter to Robert M. Gates, chair, NCAA Constitution Committee, in response to its open call for input on major structural and constitutional issues that will reshape the mission and role of the NCAA. The letter highlights that for nearly two years, the…

Challenge Grants for Achieving Racial Equity in College Sports

The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics issued a call for proposals for research grants to advance the goals in its “Achieving Racial Equity in College Sports” report. In the report, the Commission called on universities, athletics conferences, the College Football Playoff (CFP) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to take decisive action to address policies and…

Knight Commission Announces New Membership Appointments of Dr. Wayne Frederick, Jessica Mendoza and Gloria Nevarez

Knight Foundation president and CEO Alberto Ibargüen and Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics Co-Chairs Arne Duncan, Len Elmore and Dr. Nancy L. Zimpher have announced the appointment of new members to the Commission: Dr. Wayne Frederick, Jessica Mendoza and Gloria Nevarez. “Understanding a wide range of points of view is essential in our pluralistic society,”…

Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics Responds to NCAA President Mark Emmert’s Remarks on Division I Reform

Numerous media outlets have reported on NCAA President Mark Emmert’s criticism this week of the Knight Commission’s recent report, “Transforming the D-I Model.” In his State of College Sports address on January 12, Emmert, appearing to refer to our proposal to separate the sport of FBS football from the NCAA, said that some have suggested “we should even take that part that’s most entertaining and most lucrative, and carve it off the Association, set it over here and turn that into a pure entertainment industry with paid professionals.” Those comments do not accurately represent our proposal. In fact, the Knight Commission report explicitly outlines a set of principles for its proposed new governance entity for FBS football that would prohibit making FBS football players “paid professionals.”