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 practices that create barriers to the success of Black college athletes.
To achieve the equity goals highlighted in the report, the Knight Commission is offering $100,000 in multi-year Challenge grants to fund collaborative research that demonstrates how specific interventions impact the Black athlete experience and/or Black athlete advocacy areas. Also, the research should be conducted as a partnership between researchers and athletics administrators at the campus, conference or national association levels.
Researchers are encouraged to submit proposals using the guidelines outlined in the Call for Proposals. Proposals will be judged based on their ability to advance research in the areas of Black athlete experience and/or Black athlete advocacy, demonstrated partnership with college athletics program(s), clarity, feasibility, and potential impact.
For questions on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics Challenge Grant, please review the Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) document. If your question is not answered in the document, please contact Dr. Christopher Brown at applications@knightcommission.org.
Question and Answer – Teleconference
The Knight Commission will host a teleconference call on September 15, 2021, at 1:00 pm EST to discuss the Challenge Grant process and answer questions for applicants. To register for the teleconference email applications@knightcommission.org
Dates/Deadlines
August 26, 2021 – Application opens on https://www.knightcommission.org/
September 15, 2021– Q&A teleconference call
October 22, 2021 – Application deadline
November 15, 2021 – Notifications of receipt of grant funding will be sent out.
December 1, 2021 – First round of funds to be distributed
TBD – Presentation on research findings to the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics