the BigAmateurism monologues

In Mark Emmert’s July 15th “interview” with a “small group” of reporters, he alluded to the possibility that university presidents and chancellors may assert their authority and interests in the remaking of college sports. Emmert’s discussion implied that university presidents are marginal stakeholders in the business of big-time college sports. In fact, college presidents—and college presidents alone—are responsible for the conduct and control of intercollegiate athletics. The campaign for presidential control of college athletics dates back to the 1920s and the Carnegie Foundation’s 1929 Carnegie Report. Through the work of the Knight Commission in the early 1990s, the concept of presidential control of intercollegiate sports was rekindled and formally woven into the NCAA constitution and governance structure. This episode is a reprise of Episode 3: “Presidents in Control?”