Restoring the Balance: The New Knight Commission Report

Yesterday I had the honor  of participating in the press conference for the release of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics’ new report, “Restoring the Balance: Dollars, Values, and the Future of College Sports.” The report shows compelling evidence that our athletics programs have gotten out of balance with our educational missions at many institutions, and recommends three clear ways to get back to equilibrium:

1. Requiring greater transparency, including better measures to compare athletics spending to academic spending;
2. Rewarding practices that make academic values a priority;
3. Treating college athletes as students first and foremost – not as professionals.

College and university boards play a central role in restoring the balance to the management of college sports. Appropriate board engagement and support are key to implementing the commission’s recommendations.

Since the release of AGB’s first statement on the subject in 2004, AGB’s Board of Directors has been on record about the appropriate role of governing boards in the oversight of intercollegiate athletics. The AGB statement was updated in 2007, and again in 2009, as circumstances dictated. The 2009 update is intended to guide in the crafting of specific policies on intercollegiate athletics that spell out the leadership roles and oversight responsibilities of the board, president, and athletics department.

The AGB Statement on Board Responsibilities for Intercollegiate Athletics (2009) states in part:

“There is a growing sense among academic leaders, the news media, and the public that our society glorifies athletic accomplishment far more than academic achievement.  At some colleges and universities, intercollegiate athletics programs may be detracting from the institution’s mission.  What’s more, the increasingly commercialized nature of major sports at the highest competitive levels and a widening gulf between the athletic and academic cultures at some institutions and in some communities have negatively affected the reputation and public standing of higher education as a whole.  Restoring balance between sports and education continues to be elusive.  If efforts to achieve an appropriate balance are to succeed, governing board members will need to lend consistent and public support to their chief executives and academic leaders who are at the forefront of such discussions…Given their responsibilities for ensuring the academic integrity and reputation of the institutions they serve, boards should be engaged in the search for balance.”

We owe it to our student-athletes and our institutions to makes serious strides toward implementing the Knight Commission’s recommendations. AGB stands ready to do its part.

Read Rick Legon's formal statement here.