The Drake Group
"Defending Academic Integrity in the Face of Commercialized College Sport"
Artwork copyright by Tim
Foley for The Chronicle of
Higher Education.
News & Events
Jim Gundlach, 2008 Hutchins Award recipient, quoted in article "NCAA naps during golden age of
cheating"
- click here to read

Dave Ridpath, Past-President of TDG, quoted in article in The Des Moines Register- click here to
read the article

Kadence Otto, newly elected TDG President, quoted in articles in The Des Moines Register - click
here  and here to read the articles

BALANCING GRADES AND GRIDIRON - Editorial in LA Times by Allen Sack - click here to read or click
here to download the editorial

TDG ANNUAL MEETING & ROBERT MAYNARD HUTCHINS AWARD
The Drake Group has a couple of events during the inaugural Scholarly Conference on College
Sport, sponsored by the College Sport Research Institute at The University of Memphis.

The annual meeting will be held Friday evening April 18th.  The Robert Maynard Hutchins Award Luncheon is
scheduled for Saturday April 19th.  More information about the annual meeting and RMH luncheon will follow.  
Nominees are currently being accepted for the RMH award - just
email your nominee!

Commentary by Richard Southall about "The Lost NCAA Conference" - click here to read it and add
your comments

Comments by The Drake Group on the Draft of a Redesigned IRS Form 990, submitted to the IRS
on September 12, 2007
- click here to read

The Drake Group Announces Public Release of Response to NCAA President Myles Brand’s
Defense of the NCAA’s Tax Exempt Status
- click here to download - click here to read the full
commentary

Take Action!  The Drake Group is asking all TDG members to contact your representatives and
support the Congressional investigation into the tax-exempt status of the NCAA
- click here for more
info

Article on CBS Sportsline about the APR with comments by Dave Ridpath - click here to read the
story

Commentary by Richard Southall about "The Lost NCAA Conference" - click here to read it and add
your comments

Article by Allen Sack in The Hartford Courant - "Dropping the Ball: Tax-Exempt NCAA Under Fire
As Colleges Perform End Run Around Academic Rules"
- click here to access it online or click here to
download a copy of the article

TDG is urging all members to contact their representatives to support the Congressional inquiry
into the tax-exempt status of the NCAA
- click here for more information

Article by Rob Benford in the latest issue of The Sociological Quarterly - "The college sports
reform movement: Reframing the “edutainment” industry"
- click here to download  

The Drake Group announces Linda Bensel-Meyers as the recipient of the 2007 Robert Maynard
Hutchins Award
- click here to download

Letter by Jon Ericson to Congressman William Thomas regarding Myles Brand's reply to House
Ways and Means investigation of the NCAA's tax exempt status
- click here to download

Audio interviews of Dave Ridpath and Frank Splitt by The Paul Finebaum Radio Network - you will
need Windows Media Player to listen to these interviews

Links to articles about the financial side of intercollegiate athletics
"A Report on Congressional Interest in College Sports Reform" by Bob Gilbert
- click here
"It's hard to figure out if UH is in the red, or in the black" - click here to view

Essay by Jon Ericson and Bruce Svare "Time to expose faculty corruption in college sports"
click here to download this article

Article about TDG in The Ithacan "Staurowsky and Group Seek to Reform Collegiate Athletics"
click here to view this article online

Third Annual Robert Maynard Hutchins Award Dinner - click here!

The Drake Group at the Knight Commission Meeting
The Drake Group is pleased to announce that Executive Director, Dr. B. David Ridpath, currently an
Assistant Professor of Sport Administration at Mississippi State University, is representing TDG at the
upcoming meeting of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics in Washington DC, at the historic
Williard Hotel on November 8, 2005.

Ridpath is presenting on a faculty panel to discuss academic reform proposals and athlete well-being issues.
Dr. Ridpath will present a collection of essays by TDG member, Frank Splitt, to the Commission (see
Publications below for this document).  Percy Bates, the Faculty Athletics Representative at the University of
Michigan, and Virginia Shepherd, co-chair of the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA), and a
Professor of Pathology at Vanderbilt University joins him on the panel. This panel will discuss NCAA reform
issues and alternative academic reform proposals from COIA and TDG.

Dr. Ridpath becomes the third Director of The Drake Group asked to speak at a Knight Commission
meeting, following the remarks of Dr. Jon Ericson in 2000 and Dr. Linda Bensel-Meyers in 2003.  Please
view the
Publications page to download their statements.  

TDG on Capitol Hill

TDG Associate Director, Dr. David Ridpath, testified before the U.S. Congress on September 14, 2004 in a
session entitled "Due Process and the NCAA."  In an online announcement about the session (
click here),
Congressman Bachus says the following:

“The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) exercises a state-like authority over college athletics in
this country, yet routinely denies procedural due process to those under investigation.  With the incredibly
high stakes involved in college athletics today, it is critical that the NCAA respect the basic rights of all those
involved in its investigations.  The NCAA’s repeated failure to adopt meaningful reforms that afford even the
most basic due process makes it apparent that this problem will not be resolved by the NCAA unilaterally,”
said Bachus.

The news release from Congressman Spencer Bachus following the session is available
here.  A webcast of
the session is also available online -
click here for the webcast (Dr. Ridpath's testimony starts about 27
minutes into the session).  New articles about this session can be found at
ESPN, The Washington Post, and
The Chronicle of Higher Education.  Dr. Ridpath submitted written documentation for the record, including
TDG plan and Frank Splitt's articles.
The TDG News Archive is being built.
To access the edition, just click on the date you want
Aug 10, 2007           Sept 11, 2007                Oct 5, 2007
Nov 15, 2007             Jan 14, 2008              Jan 25, 2008
Feb 13, 2008          March 12, 2008           March 20, 2008
April 14, 2008          April 25, 2008             May 17, 2008
Sept 10, 2008
Please contact The
Drake Group directly
with any questions.
info@thedrakegroup.org