WASHINGTON — In September, the FBI revealed allegations of bribery at multiple university athletics programs. Earlier this month, the NCAA Infractions Committee announced that it would not penalize the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill for a long-running academic scam centered around university personnel who clustered student-athletes in “paper classes” designed to inflate GPAs.
Off the heels of these controversies in college sports, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, an independent group that advocates for reform in college sports, gathered several experts and administrators on Monday for a public meeting in Washington. Although the speakers did not shy away from addressing an array of key issues, there were no easy solutions to the crisis of the safety, integrity and relevancy of college athletics.
The meeting opened with a conversation with NCAA President Dr. Mark Emmert, who began by tracing the history of the NCAA and the unique history of American universities in their ability to self-regulate.
“That’s worked remarkably well, especially when you consider all the other options for 110, 120 years,” Emmert said. He then drew attention to the present moment, a pivotal time for the NCAA, by asserting what he views as the fundamental goal of college athletics programs.
“We’re in the human development business,” he said. “We’re committed to developing young men and young women who come to our campuses to gain an education to develop themselves physically and mentally.”
However, he cited recent news of the bribes made by Adidas to coaches and families as a glaring indication that something had gone wrong in the mission of college sports. Emmert’s tone shifted as he considered university athletics programs’ failure to regulate themselves and what that might mean for the future.
“I would encourage you all to think about who is it that would replace self-governance in higher education,” he said, addressing the present board members of the Knight Commission. “When I hear that and I think about it, I don’t like the answers I come up with.”
