PRESS RELEASE – SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 For immediate release For more information: Dr. B. David Ridpath, Ed.D. President www.TheDrakeGroup.org College Presidents Choose to Enable Academic Fraud in Athletics NEW HAVEN, CONN. – In 2017, after the University of North Carolina (UNC) escaped punishment for a two decades long massive academic scandal designed to manage and … Read more
The Drake Group addresses constitutionally protected speech and expression rights of public college and university students who participate in intercollegiate athletics. The current national debates about the extent to which athletic departments should properly control athlete behavior, especially on social media and in connection with activism require athletic directors to respond to questions such as … Read more
In light of the current national debate about transfer rules in intercollegiate athletics and other restrictions on the eligibility of college athletes, The Drake Group believes there is a need to acknowledge and define the basic rights of college students who participate in intercollegiate athletics.
The Drake Group believes that most coaches act responsibly and in the best interests of their players. Even when using now-unacceptable pedagogy, most coaches do so without malicious intent. However, adequate evidence shows that the coaching profession is without clear and consistent standards and that absent such guidelines, too many coaches, albeit a minority, are … Read more
Given the new Title IX sexual harassment regulations issued in May 2020, The Drake Group updated its 2016 position statement. Current issues related to college athlete sexual misconduct and other forms of violence were examined, demonstrating that, other than the U.S. Office of Civil Rights rules that have general applicability to institutions, no uniform approach … Read more
There is probably no more significant roadblock for college athletes seeking meaningful educations than the unreasonable amounts of time they must engage in practice and other athletics-related activities. In every NCAA and conference survey and through numerous research studies, athletes have made their concerns and needs concerning time spent on their sports known. Excessive athletics … Read more
The 2015 unsealing of nearly 500 pages of documents in Todd McNair’s defamation lawsuit against the NCAA once again put a spotlight on the dysfunctional NCAA enforcement system. The Drake Group, a national organization of college faculty and others has been studying the NCAA enforcement system for many years. In April of 2015, The Drake … Read more
Recent academic scandals related to the intercollegiate athletics programs at a number of the nation’s most prestigious institutions of higher education reveal the absence of policy and practice that would ensure the primacy of academic study and the maintenance of academic integrity by institutions of higher education. The Drake Group believes that each of the … Read more
The Drake Group released a position statement that is highly critical of the NCAA’s Division I Academic Metrics. Drake Group President Gerald Gurney argues that “Academic integrity in intercollegiate athletics requires a system of checks and balances, transparent academic metrics and safeguards that ensure that learning occurs, not just that athletic eligibility is maintained.”
The Drake Group specifically calls for individual student tuition bills that are fully transparent listing the amount of the student fees and other general fund subsidies being used to fund athletics. David Ridpath, Chair of the Drake Student Fee Working Group, points to the fact that “This is an issue of access to higher education. … Read more