Releases and Statements

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Knight Commission Proposes Penalties for Colleges Whose Athletes Fail Academically; Pursues Other Major Reforms of College Sports 10 Years After Issuing Landmark Report

The Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics today recommended that teams with graduation rates of less than 50 percent be barred from conference championships or postseason play. The sweeping recommendations, which include prohibiting corporate logos on athlete uniforms, also call for the establishment of a Coalition of Presidents representing academic as well as athletic associations to pursue needed reforms.

Knight Commission Will Reconvene to Review State of College Athletics

A decade after publishing a seminal series of reports that led to the restructuring of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics will reassemble to take stock of the state of college athletics. The original members of the commission have agreed to reconvene beginning later this summer, conduct hearings and…

Knight Leaders Hail NCAA For Backing Higher Initial-Eligibility Standards; Say Convention Vote Means Sports Reform Is “On Track”

SAN DIEGO — Refusal by the National Collegiate Athletic Association convention to water down higher initial- eligibility requirements for athletes means “college sports reform remains on track,” according to leaders of the Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. “The Knight Commission is gratified that the presidents of American colleges and universities have acted through their NCAA representatives at this convention to…

Knight Commission Calls on College Presidents to Stand Firm on Reform

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 — The Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics today called on college presidents to stand firm behind reform of college sports at the annual NCAA Convention scheduled for January in San Diego. The commission urged the presidents to rally to the support of “Proposition 16,” the tougher freshman eligibility rules adopted two years ago by the NCAA…

Attempt to Roll Back College Sports Reform Prompts Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics to Reconvene

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 — Former members of the Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, concerned about attempts to roll back academic reforms already adopted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), will reconvene here, Oct. 24, to consider steps they may take. The meeting follows a warning two months ago by Creed C. Black, president…

Knight Foundation Commission Names R. Gerald Turner as Member

CHARLOTTE, N.C., — R. Gerald Turner, Chancellor of the University of Mississippi, today was named a member of the independent, blue-ribbon Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics as the replacement for Lamar Alexander, former president of the University of Tennessee who resigned earlier this year upon his confirmation as U.S. Secretary of Education. Turner; Knight Commission co-chairman William C. Friday,…

Knight Foundation Commission Says: College Presidents Must Assert Control to Cure College Sports Problems

The independent, blue-ribbon Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics reported Tuesday on “abuses…threatening the very integrity of higher education” and proposed a sweeping reform agenda based on university presidents’ asserting control of all aspects of college sports. “Keeping Faith with the Student-Athlete: a New Model for Intercollegiate Athletics” is the title of the 47-page report issued by the 22-member Commission after…

Knight Foundation Forms Blue-Ribbon Sports Panel

WASHINGTON, D.C., — The Knight Foundation is establishing a national blue-ribbon commission to develop and build support for a reform agenda for intercollegiate athletics. Creed C. Black, president of the foundation, announced the decision at a press conference here today. Appearing with him were the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, president emeritus of the University of…