Over the years, it has been a given that higher education in America is the envy of the world. However, Murray Sperber’s 2000 book, Beer and Circus: How Big-Time College Sports Is Crippling Undergraduate Education provided deep insights into the debilitating impact of big time collegiate athletics programs on the overall quality of education at the … Read more
Although faculty and faculty organizations, such as the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA) and The Drake Group (TDG), do not have vested interests in maintaining the status quo, occupy the moral high-ground, and have repeatedly advanced compelling arguments as well as strategies for reform, they do not have the wherewithal—financial resources and unified leadership—requisite to … Read more
Emmert appears to be holding to the NCAA’s party line that has been characterized by frequent mention of mythical “student-athletes,” the denial of its responsibility for the professionalization of big-time collegiate athletics—with its emphasis on revenue generation that not only fosters corruption but also compromises academic integrity—and the use of wealth and power to maintain … Read more
On February 8, 2011, Allen Sack and Ramogi Huma, a former UCLA football player and president of the National College Players Association, testified at a potentially transformative Connecticut legislative hearing on Athletic Scholarships and Medical Expenses. »Read more
Absent federal and/or state, Bills of Rights for prospective college athletes, Truth in Recruiting legislation, or NCAA Transparency and Accountability Acts, unwitting recruits face quadruple jeopardy, i. e., double-double jeopardy, when they buy into the recruitment packages proffered by NCAA member colleges and universities. This exploitation is especially hard on the academically disadvantaged. How might this be? … Read more
The Secretary is seemingly unaware of the fact that NCAA’s highly-touted APR is not a realistic measure of academic progress. In light of the intrinsic defects of the APR and the historic failure of the APR process to promote academic reforms, as well as the lack of reform-leadership abilities of school presidents, it is almost … Read more
One would think that stories keyed to the devastating impact of collateral damage to our nation’s education system and its students would cause public outrage and thus go viral—not so in a culture that apparently values sports and entertainment above academics and learning. So what’s up with collegiate athletics reform? »Read more
Many ways. It involves one of America’s biggest business sectors—higher education. Many of America’s colleges and universities are experiencing serious troubles with proliferating scandals in their professional sports entertainment businesses that are led by their own brand of fat-cat confidence men—NCAA, BCS Conference, and school officials, as well as very wealthy boosters and trustees. »Read … Read more
There is no meaningful oversight of the NCAA cartel (the NCAA and its member institutions) as it is not only self-reporting and self-regulating, but self-enforcing as well. Furthermore, the cheating and corruption that enables the cartel to maintain its tax-exempt status—while fielding professional teams with their conferences serving as the minor leagues for the NFL and … Read more
The American public does not seem to care about the lack of government intervention so long as it is entertained 24/7. For the most part, the public has developed a belief system about collegiate athletics that does not square with the facts. »Read more