Failing to Confront the “Elephants in the Room” – The Drake Group Comments on the Knight Commission Proposal to Transform the NCAA D-I Model
On December 3, 2020, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics issued a formal report, “Transforming the NCAA D-I Model: Recommendation for Change” in which the Knight Commission called for a “reset” of college athletics, urging Presidents and Chancellors to play their rightful leadership role in demanding such reform. Unfortunately, The Drake Group believes the proposed […]
Drake Group Decries NCAA Infractions Decision concerning UMass Women’s Tennis and Former Athlete, Brittany Collens
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Drake Group decries an October 16, 2020, NCAA Committee on Infractions decision penalizing college athletes rather than the athletic program administrators who botched the computation of their scholarship checks. Over a three-year period, UMass athletic department administrators failed to properly compute payments when 12 athletes moved off-campus. Eight athletes continued […]
Drake Group Calls for Congress to Enact College Athlete Protections: A Legislative Proposal
On August 3, 2020, U.S. Senators Cory Booker, Richard Blumenthal, Christopher Murphy, Kirsten Gillibrand, Ron Wyden, Mazie Hirono, and Kamala Harris issued a “College Athletes Bill of Rights” statement that sought to advance justice and opportunity for college athletes and promised future legislation to realize their position. On August 13, they were joined by Senators […]
Drake Group Honors Nancy Hogshead-Makar, J.D. as Recipient of 2020 Drake Hero Award
The Drake Group is honoring Nancy Hogshead-Makar, J.D. with the 2020 Drake Hero Award for her determined and extraordinary efforts to advance the collegiate sports reform movement through persistent actions over the past thirty years. Hogshead-Makar’s leadership in addressing sexual abuse in sport, which began long before the recent horrific revelations in gymnastics, is path-breaking, […]
Drake Group Honors Johnasia Cash, Courageous Penn State Basketball Player, as Recipient of 2020 Drake Presidential Award
The Drake Group Presidential Award was established in 2017 to honor an extraordinary contribution by an individual or organization that has helped advance the integrity of intercollegiate athletics through a public action that demonstrates integrity, the primacy of educational objectives and the responsible and ethical conduct of intercollegiate athletics as an extracurricular enterprise. Johnasia Cash, […]
Who Says We Must Reform Collegiate Athletics?
Members of Congress, sport leaders, advocates and athletes – What they have to say about the need for collegiate athletics reform: Representative Donna Shalala, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Founder of Champion Women, Senator Cory Booker, Consumer Advocate Ralph Nader, former UCLA Gymnast Katelyn Ohashi, and Condoleeza Rice, Chair of the NCAA Commission on College […]
College Sports — Unwinding Madness
Extensively based on their work as members of The Drake Group, Gerald Gurney, Donna Lopiano and Andy Zimbalist present a cogent summary of the history, issues, and Drake recommended solutions to unwind the corrupting influences of highly commercialized college sports. From academic fraud, lavish expenditures inappropriate for non-profit institutions of higher education, the exploitation of […]
University Presidents Tackle the Future of College Football
Karl Igsvoog interviews David Ridpath about his research on mandatory athletic fees, examines recent concussion litigation and its impact on college sports, reports the result of a survey of 131 college presidents on issues related to college football and whether university presidents are taking on the issue of concussion litigation. This video is a portion […]
University Provosts Doing Nothing About Academic Corruption
Karl Idsvoog examines whether college and university provosts are examining the athletic department for evidence of academic fraud and finds that universities appear to be looking the other way, participating in cheating cover-ups, knowingly admitting athletes who do not meet posted academic standards for admission and placing athletes at academic risk in the least demanding […]
Silence of College Presidents and Media on Concussion Time Bomb
Karl Idsvoog examines media coverage of football concussions, concussion lawsuit risk and the cost of intercollegiate athletics. This video is an excerpt from the Presidential Football Project.