Is the Federal Government Suiting Up to Play in the Reform Game?

Abstract

A recent Louis Harris poll revealed that seventy-five percent of the American public believes that college athletics are a mess.' Certainly, if you had read such books as College Sports Inc. ,2 Undue Process,3 Major Violation,4 and Backboards & Blackboards," the Harris poll result would be of little surprise to you. If you happen to be a college athlete, a college student, or a college professor or administrator, it is likely that one or more of the concerns presented in the above mentioned books have arisen on your campus or on the campus of one of your close friends. If, like myself, you are a devoted follower of university athletics and its role and interaction with the mission and function of college, you are certainly aware that the voices of reform in college athletics are both loud and growing in number. College sports reform is now a reality. The questions remaining are how will reform be accomplished and by whom? This brief article will attempt to shed some light on these questions.