USA Today reported on the full reinstatement of four sports at the University of California at Berkeley (UC) after fans and alumni raised enough money to save them. Last September, UC announced it would discontinue baseball, men’s and women’s gymnastics and women’s lacrosse and drop rugby from varsity to club status. A little more than…
The Birmingham News published a pair of articles relating to NCAA proposals that would give schools more freedom to use images of athletes for commercial purposes. According to the NCAA, the proposals were made to change outdated rules and create more sponsorship revenue. Currently, the NCAA does not allow companies from using an athlete’s name,…
The Brown Daily Herald published a series investigating the spending for intercollegiate athletics at Brown University with respect to other Ivy League institutions. A committee composed of administrators, two coaches, two student athletes and a faculty member were charged with cutting the already-limited athletics department budget. In May, the committee will inform President Ruth Simmons…
An editorial published by the Houston Chronicle endorsed many of the Knight Commission’s recommendations issued in the Restoring the Balance report, and also cited the recent concerns expressed by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan about the poor academic performances by many men’s basketball teams. The editorial was published on Sunday, April 3, 2011, during…
1. Arne Duncan Washington Post Opinion On March 17, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced his support for two Knight Commission recommendations designed to reward teams that make academics a priority: requiring teams to be on track to graduate 50 percent of their players to be eligible for postseason play and providing financial incentives…
KCBS-Radio in San Francisco interviewed Amy Perko, Executive Director of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, about the Knight Commission’s March 2011 analysis. The analysis provided data to support the Commission’s call for the NCAA to reward Division I men’s basketball teams for postseason performance only if they meet minimum academic benchmarks. Access the interview…
New analysis shows basketball teams not meeting minimal academic benchmarks have earned nearly $179 million* for NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament success Highlights: 10 of 68 men’s basketball teams that competed in the 2011 “March Madness” would be ineligible under the benchmark recommended by the Knight Commission and backed by Secretary Duncan. Of the $409 million…
The New York Times published an article about the need for the NCAA to have greater control over the Division I football bowl system in order to reduce inappropriate expenses by the non-profit organizations which direct the postseason games. The article noted a recent investigation by the Times in to the Fiesta Bowl, which detailed…
The Washington Post recently identified capping athletics subsidies as one of eight ways to get higher education in better shape. The article cites Knight Commission data and quotes Commission co-chairman William “Brit” Kirwan, Chancellor of the University System of Maryland: “7. Cap athletic subsidies Intercollegiate athletics undoubtedly add to the collegiate experience. But how much,…
The following article by Karen Weaver was published in Change magazine in its January-February 2011 issue. Weaver is the director of athletics, intramurals, and recreation at Penn State Abington. The complete article can be accessed here. “College presidents often think of athletics as the “front porch” of their campuses. After all, name recognition goes a…