Trustees and Presidents: A Podcast for University Leaders On College Athletics

The worlds of higher education and college athletics are changing so fast, it's dizzying. Those who work in the industry are hit with change seemingly every day.  How are your students, faculty, coaches and others handling all the challenges in their world?

Enter Real Response. Originally a tool for college athletes to speak up and share their experiences with athletic administrators has evolved into a multi purposed, multi faceted way used to solve problems facing college campuses today (and not just in athletics).

Leveraging the comfort that Gen Z has with texting on their phones, Real Response provides a way to give instant feedback on support staff, athletic training, strength and conditioning, to more complex, difficult to talk about areas like sexual assault, guns in the locker rooms and inappropriate relationships. The end result may mean that administrators get to hear about these issues much earlier in the process, get them the help they need more quickly, and hopefully changing the behavior sooner.

I’m joined today by David Chadwick and Samantha Huge. David is the CEO of Real Response and Samantha is the EVP of Collegiate Athletics. Both bring important information to the table that allows presidents and leaders to learn about tools available to them to assess constituent feedback and get ahead of potentially serious issues.

You've likely heard the old adage, "I'm shocked-there's gambling in this establishment?". While it is an old movie line, it applies to today's college campus. College students (and others) are betting on sports on their phones, hourly, daily and sometimes, more often. 

With sports betting now legal in over 35 states, college presidents and campus leaders must address the explosion of this new form of entertainment now, both from a mental and emotional health perspective AND because some may be betting on your own teams and players. It doesn't matter what Division or sport-if the game is being played, there is likely someone wagering on it.

A longtime newspaper reporter and editor, David Purdum began covering the sports betting industry in 2008. He chronicled the nearly 10-year legal battle that led to sports betting expansion after a ruling from the United States Supreme Court in May 2018. A husband and father, who coaches competitive youth soccer in his free time, Purdum is now in his ninth year with ESPN. 

For the past 20 years, it seems as if wherever there’s been a sports law story involving athlete rights, Michael McCann has been near the epicenter of it. Whether it was as a member of former Ohio State player Maurice Clarett’s legal team in the groundbreaking Clarett v NFL, case; co-authoring a book with Ed O’Bannon, the former UCLA men’s basketball player who found his likeness had been sold off by the NCAA to EA Sports for a college basketball video game, or writing for Sports Illustrated or Sportico, Michael McCann has been both in the trenches and writing about them.

Michael McCann is a Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and Founding Director of the Sports and Entertainment Law Institute at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, where he is also Professor of Law.

Our conversation centers around recent key developments in Johnson v NCAA, including the decision by the judge to certify class action status for all Power 5 athletes with regards to BNIL; the new ability for the NLRB to certify joint employer status in cases beginning later this year; Dartmouth’s MBB unionization appeal as we begin the basketball season,  and his stark predictions for the future of college sports.

Last week, former players in Northwestern's Football Program appeared at a press conference with attorneys who are representing them. What are they asking for? Simple-cultural change and restitution on behalf of dozens of Northwestern athletes who have alleged similar behavior.

The podcast opens with a sound clip from plaintiff’s attorney Parker Stinar from the press conference.

Why do institutions fail to protect its athletes from this abusive behavior? Has it always been this way? I’m joined by higher education scholar, former provost and dean at several high profile universities who has studied the reactions of both institutions and leaders during and after these crises.

My guest is Don Heller, the retired Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of San Francisco and former Dean and faculty member at Michigan State and Penn State respectively.

This podcast may be difficult to hear some of the terminology describing the alleged behaviors of former coaches and administrators, but it is an important conversation to have.

Don’s article here: How Weak Leadership Enables Campus Scandals

When it comes to the "old definition of amateurism", the NCAA is under legal assault on at least 3 different fronts. 

Our podcast conversation today focuses on three pending legal cases involving athletes as employees-Dartmouth’s men’s basketball team attempting to unionize; Johnson v NCAA, with the plaintiffs arguing athletes should be treated as employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act; and the NLRB upcoming hearings probing whether USC, the Pac-12 and the NCAA are treating athletes as they would an employee.

A prominent journalist and a legal scholar join me today to talk about the 3 cases moving their way through the political and legal systems involving athletes as employees. 

Sam C. Ehrlich, JD/PhD is an assistant professor of legal studies at Boise State University. Sam’s research focuses on the legal governance of sports leagues, specifically through sport-specific antitrust exemptions, athlete fairness in collective bargaining and employment, and tort and constitutional liability for overseeing athletic organizations.

Amanda Christovich is a reporter at Front Office Sports based in New York City covering the business of college sports. Her work has previously appeared in USA TODAY and The Wall Street Journal. She plans to be in the NLRB hearing covering the arguments in December 2023.

All three cases are moving ahead in an environment where the NCAA is also putting great pressure on Congress to decide the definition of amateurism in college athletics in a post-Alston world. These cases could fundamentally alter college athletics. Let’s get started.

Kicking off the fifth season of this podcast, West Georgia President ⁠Brendan Kelly⁠ takes us inside the decision to move their  athletics program from Division II, where they were highly successful, especially in football,  to Division I.

Kelly began his tenure in March 2020, as the campus (and most of the world) closed down for the pandemic. 3+ years later, he and his team took a deeper look at where the institution is coming out of a disruptive event. With his former conference changing members, he began conversations with the ASUN about joining them. Their response? "We'd love to have you."

Kelly said "This is not just an elevation of UWG Athletics. It raises the expectations – and visibility – of our institution as a whole."

⁠We are One website⁠

Chase Griffin, a UCLA quarterback heading for his third year in 2023, has a boatload of great insight and advice for senior campus leaders about how NIL really works. In this conversation, he tells us his perspective and shares how he brings his personal mission and beliefs into his work on and off the field. Since 2019, he has earned a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and is on track to earn his second master's degree before he completes his football eligibility.

Griffin is also involved in charitable NIL endeavors, including the L.A. Food Bank. He understands deeply the challenges food insecurity brings to a campus and its surrounding areas. Chase is also an active contributor to Senator Chris Murphy and Representative Lori Trahan's most recent NIL bill, submitted for consideration at the end of July.

In the release from Murphy's office, Griffin said: "For the past two years NIL has enabled college athletes, like me, to become small business owners, taxpayers, support the families that raised us, contribute to charities, and re-invest in the communities that we represent. My lived experience with NIL is why I wholeheartedly support Senator Murphy, Congresswoman Trahan, and the College Athlete Economic Freedom Act. This legislation codifies our NIL rights, preserves the economic progress that we have already made, and aligns the United States Congress with college athletes on the right side of history."

This is a must-listen podcast to understand an insider's perspective on what the future holds for big-time college athletes.

How can colleges and universities creatively leverage new trends in finance? Technology? Real Estate? NIL? This conversation provides valuable Insight from long-time higher ed consultants: Baker Tilly's Adrienne Larmett and Dave Capitano. We discuss mergers/acquisitions, reimagining too much or too little housing space on campus, should private equity and NIL deals include private off-campus housing for college athletes, and other emerging ideas.

Dave and Adrienne have worked alongside NCAA Division I, II and III campuses as they wrestle with these new challenges. It's an interesting way to consider the new ways campuses are becoming more resilient in the 21st century.

Here's a link to our previous discussion referenced in the podcast.

In early June 2023, the second annual NIL Summit was held at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia. Over 500 athletes traveled to Georgia to talk about NIL and grow their understanding of how to maximize their opportunities. The amount of attention and interest in what college athletes might be able to earn via this marketplace is still being established. One thing is for certain, though... the sky appears to be the limit.

My guest is Jason Belzer, the co-founder and CEO of Student-Athlete NIL (SANIL). It is the agency of record that specializes in assisting brands, universities
and student-athletes navigate the new era of name, image and likeness. Belzer's company manages 30+ NIL collectives at universities across
the country, including: Roll The Quad (Wake Forest). The Tech Way (Georgia Tech), Knights Of The Raritan (Rutgers) and Crimson & Cream (Oklahoma) (recently recognized by Sports Business Journal as a Power Player in the NIL space).

Jason offers senior campus leaders an essential perspective in this fast-changing space.

Why aren't more women holding Division I college presidencies? While smaller colleges (especially community colleges) have seen significant growth in women leading institutions, the numbers dwindle as you move towards Division I. Is there a perception that women presidents can't manage big-time college sports?

An important discussion about presidents, college sports and the 2023 ACE Study on Presidents in Higher Education. My guest is Dr. Pamela Eddy, a professor of higher education at the College of William and Mary. Her research interests include community college leadership and development, organizational change and educational partnerships, gender roles in higher education, and faculty development. Dr. Eddy serves as a consultant for campuses, system offices, and on funded grants regarding strategies to support community college student success and to support leadership development.

Dr. Eddy wrote an insightful article for Inside Higher Ed on women and leadership. Read it here.