The recent boom in construction of major athletics buildings has had a significant impact on college debt loads, according to an article published on September 28 by the Chronicle of Higher Education. According to the Chronicle, from 2003-2008, the nation’s largest athletic departments raised nearly $4 billion in private donations to finance capital projects. Although…
The Baltimore Sun published a report from the University of Maryland athletic department which includes a scenario of eliminating sports as an option to keep the athletic department financially stable over the next five years. The report, titled “Transforming Maryland Athletics: 2009-14,” offered three significant options for the University to keep the athletic program stable:…
On September 26, 2009, the Christian Science Monitor published an opinion by attorney Benjamin Rosenberg on the values of college sports in higher education. Rosenberg questions higher education’s commitment to academic and intellectual interests when it pays its football and basketball coaches more than any other university employee, including the school president: “Why go to…
The Arizona Republic reported on the status of the Arizona Board of Regents’ review of intercollegiate athletics in Arizona higher education. According to the paper, the purpose of the review of college sports in Arizona is to examine the growth in coaching salaries, how sports programs are funded, and whether opportunities for male and female…
Statement from Knight Commission Co-Chairmen, William E. “Brit” Kirwan and R. Gerald Turner: College sports lost a friend and strong leader in the passing of Myles Brand. The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics is saddened by the loss and remembers Dr. Brand for his spirited commitment to academic reform. Dr. Brand tackled tough issues with…
Ernest Calderón, president of the Arizona Board of Regents, recently published a column in the Arizona Daily Star in which he stated that the board will begin an investigation of the role of intercollegiate athletics at its universities. In the column, Calderon states: “…I asked regent and former U.S. Sen. Dennis DeConcini to chair an…
An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education stated that financial reasons have forced Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) to remain in NCAA Division II instead of completing its transition to move to the NCAA’s most competitive league, Division I. “The resources to complete the reclassification simply were not available, currently nor prospectively, in sufficient amounts,”…
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The Associated Press reported on an address by the U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at the 2012 NCAA convention. Duncan urged the nation’s major institutions to put some of the revenue earned from football and men’s basketball championships into an education fund. Duncan praised recent policies adopted by the association membership, including tougher academic…