The purpose of the 2024 Allen Sack National Symposium on April 18 at Howard University in Washington, DC was to address national issues having a critical impact on college athletic programs. Speakers and panelists discussed college athletes’ well-being with a focus on hazing, bullying, coach misconduct, and the little-known fact that thousands of college athletes … Read more
Student reporters and accomplished sports journalists who were judges in this year’s The Drake Group Education Fund Student Journalism Prize for Investigative Reporting on Intercollegiate Athletics participate in a wide-ranging conversation about college sports and the role of investigative journalism. Student journalists from Northwestern University and Quinnipiac University, winners of this year’s sports journalism contest … Read more
The finances of college sports are in peril. Desperate for cash, college athletic departments are embracing sports betting. Many colleges have entered partnerships with sports book companies and some schools receive a payout whenever a student opens an account with the sports book. An international panel of experts examines the threefold threat to athletics and … Read more
A panel of experts explores the economic drivers of college sports and how they affect athlete education. The NCAA’s Division I athletics enterprise generates $15.8 billion in annual revenues of which only $2.9 billion –18.2 percent — is returned to athletes in the form of athletics scholarships and only 1 percent is spent on medical … Read more
The Drake Group Education Fund Chair, Michael Driscoll and The Drake Group Co-Founder and Director Emeritus Allen Sack present national awards. SEE RECORDING HERE MEET THE AWARD WINNERS: National Public Service Award, The Honorable Cory Booker, United States Senator for the State of New Jersey National Public Service Award, The Honorable Richard Blumenthal, United … Read more
A panel of experts address whether current academic and other support programs for college athletes are structured to achieve graduation success. What constitutes a meaningful education and a safe and supportive educational environment? Do coaches make a difference in college athlete academic outcomes? Are there underlying issues related to racial inequities, time demands, and/or abusive coaching … Read more
A panel of former college athletes examines the reality of the athletics experience and reflects on the graduation statistics, demographics, and causative factors of college students participating in Division I revenue sports: e.g., 52 percent of all NCAA Division I men’s basketball players; 38 percent of all Division-I football players, and 38 percent of all … Read more
Are college athletes truly being provided with the education they were promised? How is that education being measured? Are there differences in the academic advising and treatment of athletes in revenue versus non-revenue sports and, if so, what are they? Are graduation rates the best measure of educational outcomes? Should other alternatives or additional measures … Read more
A stellar line up of expert panelists discussed the burgeoning NIL industry and its impact on intercollegiate athletics in America. Topics include the growth of “booster NIL collectives, protection of college athletes from unethical agents, and whether universities are educating athletes on financial literacy and IRS obligations. Significant Title IX and other gender equity issues … Read more
Given the 2021-22 recruiting chaos created by differing state laws, lack of NCAA enforcement of inducement and extra benefit controls, and the call for common guardrails, what should be the role of Congress? What do H.R. 850, the College Athlete Freedom Act sponsored by Representative Lori Trahan (MA) and other federal NIL bills propose? What is the current status of … Read more