Uncategorized Archives - The Drake Group Education Fund

The Drake Group Endorses 2024 GAO Report Detailing Title IX Enforcement Failures

In April 2024, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report, “College Athletics: Education Should Improve Its Title IX Enforcement Efforts.” The GAO found that 93 percent of all intercollegiate athletic programs were not offering athletics opportunities to females proportional to their percentage in the full-time undergraduate student body. The overall athletic participation rate … Read more

Education Fund Salutes Olympian, Advisory Council Member, Ashleigh Johnson

The Drake Group Education Fund (TDGEF) is thrilled to congratulate Advisory Council member Ashleigh Johnson on her remarkable achievement of representing the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. As a world-class athlete, Princeton graduate, and dedicated advocate for TDGEF, Ashleigh is an inspiration to us all. The extraordinary achievements of Ashleigh and other … Read more

The Drake Group Applauds the “Fair Play for Women Act”

On February 7, 2024, National Girls and Women in Sports Day, U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy (CT-D) and U.S. Representative Alma Adams (NC-12-D) introduced the Fair Play for Women Act in the 118th Congress. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Representatives Lori Trahan (D-MS-03) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-1) co-sponsored the legislation. Donna A. … Read more

The Drake Group Offers An Educational Sport Framework for the NCAA Governance Conversation

On December 5, 2023, NCAA President Baker proposed a new Division I tier in which schools would be required to pay at least 50 percent of their male and female athletes a minimum of $30,000 annually and have no limits on how much schools could pay individual athletes for use of their NILs. Pundits suggest … Read more

The Drake Group Examines 2023 Congressional Efforts to Alleviate the College Athlete NIL Chaos

Representatives of the NCAA, prominent athletic conferences, and athletics administrators have been pacing the halls of Congress asking their Senators and Representatives for federal laws that would negate the patchwork of state laws that gave college athletes name, image, and likeness employment rights outside their education institutions. Such employment is a good thing for athletes, … Read more

Why is the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights Failing to Help Colleges and Universities Resolve the Current Name/Image/Likeness Chaos?

On August 1, 2023, The Drake Group sent its fourth request to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights asking that they issue existing Title IX guidance to colleges and universities to address sex discrimination in recruiting, publicity, promotion, and financial aid by name/image/likeness collectives (NIL collectives) they are directly and indirectly supporting. … Read more

Following Reports of Hazing and Abuse, The Drake Group Calls Upon Congress to Enact the College Athletes Bill of Rights

WESTPORT, CT – July 18, 2023. Prompted by last week’s reports about systemic sexual hazing, harassment, racism, and other abuse in Northwestern University athletics programs, The Drake Group renewed its call for Congressional action on the College Athletes Bill of Rights, sponsored by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (NJ) and Richard Blumenthal (CT). The legislation would … Read more

The Drake Group Meets with Government Officials to Request Issuance of Title IX NIL Guidance

On March 9, 2023, a delegation of Title IX and NIL experts from The Drake Group (TDG) met with Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) staff members to ask for the assistance of OCR to ensure gender equity and compliance with Title IX in the new chaotic environment created by NIL (name, image, … Read more

The Drake Group Letter to U.S. Dept. of Education/Office for Civil Rights — Request for Issuance of Title IX Guidance Addressing Recruiting Practices of NIL Booster Collectives

The Drake Group believes that the current NIL chaos can be relieved by DOE/OCR clearly and precisely warning institutions, their conferences, and national governance organizations of their obligations under existing Title IX requirements, explaining how those requirements apply to these new NIL-related activities, and warning that actions by “NIL booster collectives” will be attributed to the universities when appropriate. The … Read more

The Drake Group Endorses the FAIR PLAY FOR WOMEN ACT

The Drake Group strongly endorses the Fair Play for Women Act and applauds Representative Adams and Senator Murphy for sponsoring the bill. The Act would strengthen existing statutes that require colleges and universities to publicly report data demonstrating their compliance with the athletics provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and, for the first … Read more