As a high school coach and former teacher, I’m continually interested in the balance colleges seek to strike between “student” and “athlete” for their enrollees. Sometimes, it seems as if no balance is sought. After all, as the apocryphal story reminds us, thousands of people don’t come to watch math class be taught. On the other hand, there are those working to improve the academic/athletic ratios at universities, perhaps foremost among them being the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.
The Knight Commission, according to its own mission statement, strives to “ensure that intercollegiate athletic programs operate within the educational mission of their colleges and universities.” If this seems a bit vague, the suggestions and eventual changes for which the Commission is responsible are pointed, precise, and effectual. Through a series of published reports, each released at intervals of about ten years, the Knight Commission has vastly influenced the scene of college athletics. Predicting graduation rates and disqualifying from postseason play programs that don’t meet particular standards, restructuring the NCAA’s governance by empowering college presidents, and sharing of revenue among college football programs can all be traced, in part, to the Knight Commission.
Part of the Commission’s power is its independent status. Not a government agency nor funded by the NCAA, it is theoretically free to be objective regarding its suggestions and focal points. This objectivity, in combination with an important and salient mission, has attracted powerful, high-profile individuals to be a part of the Commission. Three new members were announced this past week: Arne Duncan, former secretary of education under President Obama, Paul Tagliabue, NFL commissioner from 1989-2006, and Anna Spangler Nelson, chairman of a private investment firm and member of the Board of Governers of the University of North Carolina.
Without doubt, all three have impeccable credentials for assisting the Knight Commission; what is perhaps more uncertain is if and how these appointees will alter or refine the group’s focus. In this vein, Tagliabue is a very interesting addition considering the relative uncertainty currently swirling around football. New concerns regarding head injuries, financial questions, and unionizing players all point to slow but inexorable change in both professional and amateur football. Responsible for overseeing a substantial portion of the meteoric growth of the NFL into the juggernaut it currently is, Tagliabue must now be open to criticizing and altering the sport with which he is so familiar. On the one hand, no one is better for this than Tagliabue, who understands at an elite level the nuances of the game and its surroundings. However, it will be interesting to see if there is a conflict of interest for Tagliabue if the Commission suggests altering the college game in a way that might impact the professional product of the league he helped build.
From Left to Right: Paul Tagliabue, Arne Duncan, and Anna Spangler Nelson
Duncan, like Tagliabue, is another interesting, big-name appointee to the Commission. Duncan has shown he is unafraid of making sweeping educational change, sometimes despite losing the support of teachers unions in the process. While his tenure as secretary of education could be described as controversial, his willingness to engage in debate and shake-up the status quo might be the spark that helps ignite the kind of reform truly needed in college athletics and academics.
Like Duncan and Tagliabue, Spangler Nelson is an elite mind in her field, and she has a unique blend of educational and financial experience that makes her an exceptional addition to the Knight Commission. She has shown interest and involvement in both secondary and higher education while simultaneously serving as chairman of a private investment firm. With the O’Bannon case opening the door for greater consideration of how finances should be allocated in college athletics, having an individual literate in both academic administration as well as fiscal policy will prove invaluable for the Commission’s understanding and forecasting of the next decade.
The Knight Commission, which does immensely important work helping to maintain (and in some cases, restore) the balance between athletics and academics in colleges and universities, added strong components this past week. How Tagliabue, Duncan, and Spangler Nelson will affect the group’s focus moving forward is uncertain, but the addition of each provides the Commission with an expert on vital and pressing issues in higher education and athletics.
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