Knight Commission to Release Financial Reform Recommendations for College Sports

WASHINGTON, June 2 /PRNewswire/ --

Who:  Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics Co-Chairmen William E. "Brit" Kirwan, Chancellor, University System of Maryland, and R. Gerald Turner, President, Southern Methodist University, and Commission member Carol Cartwright, President, Bowling Green State University, will be joined by special guests.  

What:  The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics is an independent organization that advocates better alignment of college sports programs with educational missions of universities.  The Commission has dedicated the last 18 months to an in-depth examination of the economics of college sports. The result is a report that features new data and provides solutions to address problems identified by the Commission and by university presidents in a 2009 survey conducted as part of this examination.

The recommendations will help guide leaders in higher education and college athletics to restore balance in an era when growth in athletics spending outpaces growth in academic investment at institutions with major-college athletics programs.  

The Commission's multimedia report will be accessible at www.knightcommission.org on June 17th.

When:  Thursday, June 17th

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM EDT – Media are invited to attend an in-person briefing on the recommendations, followed by a question and answer period.

A call-in number will be provided for out-of-town media.

Where:  Newseum, Knight Conference Center, 7th Floor

555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC

Use the Freedom Forum entrance on Sixth Street

To RSVP for the meeting or to receive call-in information, contact [email protected].

About the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics

The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics was formed by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in October 1989 in response to more than a decade of highly visible scandals in college sports. The goal of the Commission was to promote a reform agenda that emphasized academic values in a climate in which commercialization of college sports often overshadowed the underlying goals of higher education. The Commission, which presented recommendations in a series of reports in the early 1990s and in the subsequent A Call to Action in 2001, continues to monitor and advocate for changes necessary to enhance presidential control and leadership, academic integrity, financial integrity and independent certification of athletics programs.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote informed, engaged communities and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.

SOURCE Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics