Reflections, 2016-21: A Sequel to an Odyssey of Reform Initiatives, 1986-2015. Dr. Frank Splitt, Longtime Drake Group Member and Recipient of the Robert Maynard Hutchins Award has posted a sequel to his 1986-2015 Odyssey of Reform Initiatives. A prolific and nationally respected voice advocating for intercollegiate athletics reform, this new collection of writings continues to … Read more
The revised Form 990, “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax,” filed by many public charities and other exempt organizations, has the potential to fully expose the Achilles’ Heel of the NCAA and its member institutions – the extremely weak, if any, educational basis for the current financial structure of big-time college sports. This would … Read more
It is difficult to differentiate between the behavior of the Catholic Church when it was confronted with many hundreds of worldwide pedophile cases and the behavior at Penn State University detailed in the July 12, 2012, Freeh Report that made liberal use of phrases like “extremely poor leadership,” “irresponsibility,” “creating dangerous situations for children,” “repeatedly concealed … 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
Since it is in the financial interest of conference commissioners, the NCAA and its member schools—presidents, trustees, ADs, coaches, and boosters—to portray athletes as legitimate, degree-seeking students, they are likely be quite forceful in the use of their influence and powers of intimidation to getwhat they want. What they want is the very best athletes—no … Read more
A close examination of the NCAA’s rule changes over the past 50 years or so will show that these changes have not been to support or reinforce their stated purpose and principle of amateurism, but rather have been to increase their market size and revenues by professionalizing their big-time football and men’s basketball programs at … Read more
This is an opportune time to not only take advantage of the work done by the UC-Berkeley faculty, but also to exploit the fact that many of America’s colleges and universities are now beginning to recognize that their presidents are apparently powerless to curtail out-of-control spending by their athletic departments »Read more
Doug Lederman opened a recent Inside Higher Ed news report by saying what has been obvious for many years (if not decades), to wit: Members of college and university governing boards interfere inappropriately “in the hiring of coaches and other decisions, emphasizing sports to the exclusion of other, arguably more central, institutional matters.” »Read more
The Drake Group supports the introduction of strong TAO (transparency, accountability, oversight) measures at the NCAA and in the athletics programs at its member institutions to help restore academic integrity in higher education—reducing the level of academic corruption that enables America’s colleges and universities to pass off athletes who are academically, socially, and/or time disadvantaged, … Read more
The NCAA’s continued success at professionalizing big-time college athletics, while thwarting serious reform puts academic corruption and cheating on par with prostitution, illegal gambling, and speeding violations as acceptable forms of social misconduct in America— it’s OK so long as you don’t get caught. »Read more