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

Paul Quinn College President Michael Sorrell shares his bold transformation of an HBCU campus that nearly closed; ditching football to build a community farm, pioneering the work college model, unveiling an iconic gym etched with civil rights history, and candid takes on NIL, the recruitment of his hoops prodigy son, and the NCAA's uncertain future.

College athletics is at a crossroads, and Gabe Feldman and Eric Blevins offer a bold new way forward. In this conversation, they explore turning varsity sports into a serious academic field, an "Enhanced Education Model", while unpacking the legal, financial, and governance pressures reshaping college sports. A number of organizations and scholars are advocating this as a way to deal with cost pressures, realigning Olympic sports and non-Power 4 programs and potentially reducing the employment noise around college athletes.

We also discuss the most recent White House executive order and the future of the Sports Broadcasting Act, currently under scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission.

FULL academic article referenced: https://journals.law.harvard.edu/jsel/wp-content/uploads/sites/78/2026/03/Preserving-a-Tradition-or-Creating-a-New-One-1-1.pdf

In this episode, host Karen Weaver talks with higher education scholars Shannon Kerwin, Jacqueline McDowell, Martha McGrath-Brown, Barbara Osborne, and Janelle Wells about a new Collective Think Tank report on how college athletics is “missing the moment, the money, and the mission” in women’s sports. They explain how booming fan interest and sponsorships contrast with outdated NCAA structures, stalled participation, and widening coaching gaps. The conversation offers presidents and trustees data-driven guidance on equity, hiring, fan engagement, and what the WNBA’s landmark CBA can teach college leaders. With much appreciation to trailblazing scholars Vivian Acosta and Linda Carpenter.

Link to full report and executive summary: https://www.wearethecollective.com/women-ncaa-revisited

the audibles. Through a bold mix of NCAA Division II ambitions, expanded academic pathways, and region-first investment in student success, he is turning a small Southern Ohio campus into a strategic hub where athletics, academics, and community growth are designed to win together.

On today’s podcast, we dive deep into the forces shaping higher education and college athletics. Today, we sit down with Dr. Bobby Robbins — the recently retired president of the University of Arizona — who guided the Wildcats through one of the most turbulent eras in collegiate sports. From the Pac-12’s rumored expansion to twenty teams, to its stunning near collapse and Arizona’s landing in the Big 12, Dr. Robbins has seen a lot.

In this conversation, we explore the evolving world of NIL deals, university branding, governance, and the financial headwinds reshaping college athletics. With the perspective of a cardiothoracic surgeon turned university leader, Dr. Robbins offers a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how institutions adapt when the heart of college sports is under pressure.

(Please bear with the occasional WiFi connection issues.)

Wagner College president Jeff Doggett explains why the university embraces a “we care” philosophy that puts holistic student growth over chasing NIL dollars, using Division I athletics as a teaching lab where 40% of undergraduates compete, stay four years (hopefully), and build their individual brands within a team-first culture.

Kent State University President Todd Dicon shares his perspectives on the evolving landscape of college athletics, the financial challenges faced by non Power 4 FBS institutions, and the implications of wider disparities within conferences. 

We explore how higher education and athletics intersect in a post-peak environment and what future strategies might look like.

My guest has taken one of the most unconventional routes you’ll ever hear about on the way to a university presidency.

Bill Johnson is the president of Youngstown State University (OH), capping a career that has spanned military service, business entrepreneurship, and over a decade in the U.S. Congress—a background that uniquely positions him to navigate the turbulence reshaping college sports and higher education.

Bill has become one of the most outspoken voices in the country on some of the most controversial issues in NCAA Division I athletics: the impact of massive antitrust legal settlements on mid-major budgets, the explosion of NIL money, the constant churn of the transfer portal, and whether student-athletes should be treated as university employees.

In this conversation, we dig into why he believes recent NCAA settlements unfairly punish mid-major programs like Youngstown State, why he’s calling on Congress to set guardrails around NIL and the transfer portal, and how his coalition of non–Power Four conferences is trying to rebalance NCAA governance. We’ll also talk about his evolving view on paying student-athletes, his warnings about turning college sports into a “sub-professional” market, and what he sees as the tipping point that could either save or break the current system.

Karen Weaver and Harvard's Michael Horn unpack how today’s “wild west” of college athletics is tied directly to higher ed’s larger demographic and financial crisis: peak high school grads are behind us, net tuition is flat or falling, and costs—especially in athletics—keep climbing. They connect moves like paying athletes, mega coaching salaries, women’s sports growth, and the transfer portal to business-world disruptions such as the rise of personal computers, overpaid legacy CEOs, undervalued growth stocks like early Netflix, and the end of non-compete agreements

College athletics is moving faster than campus governance—and trustees can’t afford to watch from the sidelines. Karen Weaver sits down with higher-ed governance experts Peter Eckel (UPenn) and Raquel Rall (UC Riverside) to unpack fiduciary duty, board education, and how to make mission-driven decisions amid NIL, revenue sharing, realignment, and rising financial risk.