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NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Drake Group shares observations on the “College Athlete Economic Freedom Act” proposed by Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) on February 5, 2021. This bill was also introduced by Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA) in the House. The “College Athlete Economic Freedom Act” pertains directly to NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) rights for … Read more
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Drake Group, a national organization of college faculty and others, whose mission is to defend educational integrity in college sports, warns that unless immediate action is taken, the continued abuse of athletes will stain the college sports industry, bring endless legal action, and most importantly, damage the future well-being of … Read more
The Drake Group brings together Title IX experts and an NCAA D-I conference commissioner to discuss the new reality of the college athlete name, image, and likeness (NIL) marketplace and how it relates to the Title IX promotion, publicity, recruiting and NIL education obligations of educational institutions and the entities they control, including surrogate organizations … Read more
Following each Drake “Critical Issues in Collegiate Athletics” webinar, Drake publishes answers to all the questions that the webinar audience raised that, due to time constraints, panelists were unable to answer. This webinar featured Juniper Eastwood, first NCAA Division I openly transgender athlete competing on a women’s team; Donna deVarona, two-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer, … Read more
On August 3, 2022, U.S. Senators Cory Booker, Richard Blumenthal, Brian Schatz, Ron Wyden, and Alex Padilla re-introduced the “College Athletes Bill of Rights” legislation aimed at advancing justice and opportunity for college athletes. “The College Athletes Bill of Rights bill is long overdue and extremely important,” said Andrew Zimbalist, President of The Drake Group. “It protects college athletes’ rights … Read more
The Drake Group reviewed the Collegiate Athlete Compensation Rights Act introduced by U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R)-Mississippi on December 10, 2020. The stated purpose of Senator Wicker’s bill is to protect the rights of college athletes, to provide for transparency and accountability with respect to college athlete name, image, and likeness (NIL) agreements, and to … Read more
The Drake Group, a national organization of college faculty and others whose mission is to defend educational integrity in higher education from the corrosive aspects of commercialized college sports, applauds the ‘Intentional Discrimination’ class action lawsuit (“Manassa vs the NCAA”) recently filed in the Southern District of Indiana. This lawsuit alleges that the NCAA’s academic … Read more
On December 3, 2020, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics issued a formal report, “Transforming the NCAA D-I Model: Recommendation for Change” in which the Knight Commission called for a “reset” of college athletics, urging Presidents and Chancellors to play their rightful leadership role in demanding such reform. Unfortunately, The Drake Group believes the proposed … Read more
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Drake Group decries an October 16, 2020, NCAA Committee on Infractions decision penalizing college athletes rather than the athletic program administrators who botched the computation of their scholarship checks. Over a three-year period, UMass athletic department administrators failed to properly compute payments when 12 athletes moved off-campus. Eight athletes continued … Read more