NEW YORK—An important idea put forth at the Learfield Intercollegiate Athletics Forum (IAF) is that the overall well-being of a college or university and its student-athletes requires an alliance between the board of trustees, the president and the athletic director.
Each December, various stakeholders in the world of intercollegiate athletics gather at the IAF to discuss pressing issues in college sports. Sessions range from one-on-one interviews with conference commissioners to a panel that includes student-athletes.
On Wednesday afternoon, Glenn Wong, distinguished professor of practice (sports law) at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, moderated the session “From the Office of the President: Upholding the Integrity and Ideals of Intercollegiate Athletics” featuring Dr. Renu Khator, chancellor of the University of Houston System and president of the University of Houston, and Dr. Scott Cowen, president emeritus of Tulane University. They discussed their experiences and thoughts on the current state of college sports.
Cowen and Khator said that there must be alignment between the board, the president and the athletic director of an institution in order to make sound decisions in the best interest of student-athletes, athletic programs and the institution as a whole.
Khator said that she regularly engages with the athletic department on campus, including meeting with the faculty athletic representative, and the compliance officer.
Cowen noted that some boards can become caught up in being cheerleaders for athletics, rather than fulfilling their responsibilities to make sound decisions. When that happens, it erodes trust and respect. The president has to champion the idea of what board oversight means.
“I think boards have to take much more seriously oversight and set the tone from the top with the president. It goes from there to the athletic director,” said Cohen. “Board governance right now in the United States, especially in public institutions, but even in private, there are a lot of people on boards who are cheerleaders for athletics, who don’t want to get into the sordid details because they love athletics.”
