Air Ball: American Education's Failed Experiment with Elite Athletics

Chronology of College Athletics Reform Initiatives

249 1895 The president of Purdue University calls together the presidents from the University of Illinois, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, and the University of Wisconsin to establish the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives. 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt summons college athletics leaders to two White House conferences to encourage reforms in the sport of football due to several deaths and serious injuries in the sport. Henry M. MacCracken, chancellor of New York University, convenes a meeting of thirteen institutions to initiate changes in football, resulting in the eventual formation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS) in 1906, the forerunner of the NCAA. The association has sixty-two founding members. This body is conceived as an educational body with no legislative authority. 1910 The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States adopts its present name, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 1929 The Carnegie Foundation releases a report claiming many instances of recruitment and subsidization of athletes and several cases where athletic departments are not under faculty control and are unduly influenced by alumni and coaches. CHRONOLOGY OF COLLEGE ATHLETICS REFORM INITIATIVES 250 CHRONOLOGY OF COLLEGE ATHLETICS REFORM INITIATIVES 1934 The NCAA adopts a code on the recruiting and subsidization of athletes . Implementation of this code, however, rests with individual conferences. The NCAA’s role continues to be advisory in nature. 1946 NCAA adopts the “Sanity Code,” which outlines principles for recruitment , amateurism, sound academic standards, and the awarding of financial aid. Further, the membership passes a resolution giving the NCAA the authority to establish a rules enforcement mechanism as a means of implementing the Sanity Code. 1951 College presidents determine that the NCAA requires a full-time executive director and a permanent headquarters. 1952 The NCAA Convention establishes an NCAA Membership Committee to consider complaints of failure to comply with the rules or its constitution and adopts regulatory legislation governing the administration of financial aid to athletes. The American Council on Education releases a report from a special committee of presidents. The report calls for more stringent eligibility standards, basing financial aid awards to athletes on academic achievement and economic need and prohibiting freshman eligibility. 1954 Presidents, through their institutional vote at the NCAA Convention, give more authority and power to the NCAA by approving the establishment of a Committee on Infractions to consolidate all investigations and provide a more comprehensive approach to regulation and enforcement. The long-standing principle of faculty control is emphasized as being the first step in any regulatory process. 1961 Presidents obligate member institutions to apply and enforce NCAA legislation and direct that the enforcement program apply to any member institution that fails to fulfill this obligation. 251 CHRONOLOGY OF COLLEGE ATHLETICS REFORM INITIATIVES 1965 NCAA adopts the “1.600 rule,” which establishes a minimum GPA for eligibility for NCAA championships and financial aid. 1973 NCAA abolishes the 1.600 rule in favor of a rule requiring that athletes graduate from high school with a 2.00GPA to be eligible for NCAA championships and financial aid. 1981 In response to scandals involving the doctoring of academic records, the NCAA votes to require athletes to complete a specific number of credit hours each term to remain eligible for varsity sports. The traditionally all-male NCAA establishes new women’s championships and develops plans to create policies to govern both men’s and women’s sports. 1982 A group of presidents, working through the American Council on Education , proposes more stringent eligibility standards for incoming freshmen athletes. 1983 NCAA Division I votes to toughen academic standards for freshmen athletes , requiring them to meet minimum standardized-test score requirements and earn at least a 2.0 grade point average in a high school curriculum. The rule, commonly known as Proposition 48, passes despite bitter opposition from black college presidents who claim the inclusion of test score requirements would make the standards discriminatory. 1984 The NCAA Presidents Commission of forty-four members is established . The committee is empowered to: 1. Review any activity of the association 2. Place any matter of concern on the agenda of any meeting of the NCAA Council or of any NCAA convention 252 CHRONOLOGY OF COLLEGE ATHLETICS REFORM INITIATIVES 3. Study intercollegiate athletics issues and urge certain courses of action 4. Propose legislation directly to any NCAA convention 5. Establish the final sequence of legislative proposals in any convention agenda...