Reclaiming Academic Primacy in Higher Education
In this 2003 brief with a foreword by Theodore Hesburgh, Frank Splitt discusses a blueprint for faculty driven reform of intercollegiate athletics. »Read the full paper
NCAAReform
How About A Congressional Hearing on College Athletics?
The NCAA’s use of the phony collegiate model and ’student-athlete’ term to defend their tax-exempt programs and modus operandi has served the NCAA well in the past, but at great cost to America’s institutions of higher education. This model and terminology have, to various degrees, spawned a culture of academic corruption in colleges and universities … Read more
How About a Quid Pro Quo for Athletes?
Scandals and multi million dollar coaching contracts make for attention-getting headlines and stories. However, the core of the issue surrounding the tax-exempt status of the NCAA cartel and so-called ’student-athletes,’ is this: lacking tangible and verifiable evidence, the government must presently take the word of school administrators that athletes are really students on track to … Read more
Independent Study Courses for Athletes
As reported, an Auburn University panel has found that independent study courses that gave many athletes major boosts in their averages were apparently quite easy for non-athletes as well. While the report found key flaws in the way the courses were run, it didn’t find special treatment for athletes. Athletic Support (Eligibility) Center staff need … Read more
What the Secretary of Education Left Out
The power of big-time commercial college sports is especially evident at a major events such as basketball’s March Madness, the football-season-ending football games, homecoming games and the like. It is difficult to not be taken up in the collective euphoria associated with such events. The customs, traditions, and emotions create an effective cover for what’s … Read more
College Sports Reform: Tempus Fugit
No doubt, many, if not most, members of Congress consider taking on the best monopoly in America to be political suicide — no matter the long term harm to America resulting from the high-jacking of its education system by the college sports entertainment business. We in America have a serious sports addiction problem. Apparently, we … Read more
College Athletics, Academic Assessment, and the False Claims Act
It would appear that athletic departments and school administrators have developed a new art form – achieving and maintaining eligibility for college athletes pretending to be students. Faculty members willing to game the academic system are all that is needed to gain eligibility and even graduation for these athletes, thus allowing their school to reap … Read more
Balancing STEMS and Sports: A Question of Values
Frank Splitt questions the “quid pro quo” contributions from boosters and the boom in the leasing of stadium skyboxes by corporations and other big-money contributors as well as extortion-like seat taxes, that are fueling the uncontrolled growth of the big-time college-sports entertainment business. He points out that the federal government weakly enforces its Unrelated Business … Read more
Presidents Flex Their Muscles to Maintain the Status Quo in Big-Time College Sports
Frank Splitt maintains that presidents cannot stand up to lead an effort to change the status quo in any meaningful way without risking termination driven by a storm of protest about economic impact and assorted tradition-based arguments by trustees/regents, boosters, alumni, and rabid fans. Presidents are pressured by their boards and boosters to approve costly … Read more
The College Sport Tax Scam Revisited
Frank Splitt questions whether college athletes in big time sports are bona fide students and whether the tax preferences afforded college sports are deserved. »Read the full article