Grants and Challenge Awards

C.A.R.E. Model Conference Grant

August 16, 2024 – Knight Commission Achieving Racial Equity in College Sports Challenge Research Award Results

Three research projects were recently completed with support from Challenge Research Awards provided by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics to support the equity goals detailed in its Achieving Racial Equity in College Sports report. These awards, drawn from a research pool of $100,000 in multi-year funding, were aimed at demonstrating how specific interventions impact the Black athlete experience and/or Black athlete advocacy. Each selected project was conducted as a partnership between researchers and athletics administrators at the campus, conference, or national association levels. Below are the award winners and their papers and findings. The Knight Commission does not take a position on the findings produced by the research.

• Alabama State University Athletics’ Four for Forty Initiative

Jason Cable, Alabama State University; Travis Smith, Alabama State University; Brianna Clark, Howard University; Ayanna Troutman, University of Florida

This initiative and research implemented and evaluated a program designed to focus on the holistic development of Alabama State college athletes through personal and professional development, while centering their Black student-athlete identities at an HBCU.

• Building a meaningful mentoring program with and for Black college athletes at a predominately White institution

Eric Hall, Elon University 

This research identified having close, equal relationships with mentors as essential needs of Black athletes – an important finding in  establishing a successful mentorship program to  support Black students.

• Creating C.H.A.M.P.S. on Campus (Certificate for Helping Athletes from Minoritized Groups Prosper & Succeed): A Research Proposal for the Development of An Inclusive Leadership Program Designed for Racially Minoritized Student-Athletes’ Success at Predominantly White Institutions

Tomika Ferguson, Virginia Commonwealth University; Yannick Kluch, University of Illinois; Raquel Wright-Mair, Rowan University

This research designed the first-of-its-kind inclusive leadership certificate program for racially minoritized student-athletes (RMSAs) with the goal of empowering and developing these students  with a specific focus on their well-being and success.

October 24, 2016 – Knight Commission Announces Spending Database Challenge Awards

Four research projects were recently completed with support from challenge awards provided by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics to encourage use of its NCAA Division I Athletics & Academic Spending Database (spendingdatabase.knightcommission.org). The Knight Commission does not take a position on the findings produced by the research.

• Athletics Subsidies and College Costs: Are Students Paying for Rising Cost in Intercollegiate Athletics? Willis Jones, University of Kentucky; Michael Rudolph, University of Kentucky
• Big-Time Sports and Big-Time Research: A Comparison of Commercialization Across the Academy. Jennifer Hoffman, University of Washington; Jacob Rooksby, Duquesne University; Greg Hay, University of Washington
• Students’ Perceptions of Institutional Support for Athletics in NCAA Division I. Jordan Bass, University of Kansas; Claire Schaeperkoetter, University of Kansas; Brian Gordon, University of Wisconsin La Crosse
• The Impact of Institutional Characteristics on Total Debt Outstanding on Athletic Facilities: Testing a New Paradigm. Linda Clark, Central Connecticut State University

October 9, 2012 – Research: Shaping policy and practice in intercollegiate athletics

The Knight Commission awarded grants totaling $100,000 to six research projects focused on policy and practice in intercollegiate athletics—building on the Commission’s legacy as a change agent to enhance the ability of sports programs to benefit both students and institutions. The grants went to a combination of established scholars and new voices in the fast-growing area of sport policy, embracing practitioners and scholars of both higher education and sport management.

• Trust, Accountability, and Integrity: Board Responsibilities for Intercollegiate Athletics. John Casteen, University of Virginia, and Richard D. Legon, Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities.
• Following a Problematic, Yet Predictable, Path: The Unsustainable Nature of the Intercollegiate Athletics System. John J. Cheslock and David B. Knight, Pennsylvania State University.
• De-escalation of Commitment among Division I Athletic Departments. Michael Hutchinson, University of Memphis, and Adrien Bouchet, University of Tulsa.
• Examining Administrator and Coach Perceptions of Value Systems in NCAA Division I Athletic Departments. Coyte G. Cooper and Erianne A. Weight, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• What’s at our core? NCAA Division I Voting Patterns vs. Student-Athlete Well-Being, Academic Standards, and the Amateur (Collegiate) Model. Josephine (Jo) R. Potuto, University of Nebraska; Connie Dillon, University of Oklahoma; and David Clough, University of Colorado.
• Competition and Control in The Gridiron Marketplace: Findings from the Intercollegiate Athletics Leadership Database. Jennifer Lee Hoffman, Assistant Professor, Center for Leadership in Athletics, University of Washington.