Following extensive press coverage of the University of Colorado’s football program and allegations that it used sex and alcohol to attract players, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection held a hearing to examine recruiting tactics at the nation’s colleges and universities on March 11.
Chair Cliff Stearns (R-FL) justified the subcommittee’s jurisdiction over the subject, explaining how college sports affect interstate commerce. “College athletics is big business,” he stated. “Star football coaches are now routinely paid millions of dollars a year and are the highest paid persons working for state government…State taxpayers are presented with bills or debt for a new sports stadium in order to remain ‘competitive’ with league rivals. Some in college athletics have referred to this spiral of spending as an ‘arms race.’ Amid all this commerce and money the question arises what happens to the student athletes?”
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) expressed her concern “about the culture in our top university athletic programs — and indeed a culture that persists throughout the nation — that tolerates such violence against women…Nearly one in six women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime, and teens and college-age women have a higher risk of being sexually assaulted than women in other age groups. This [hearing] is entitled, ‘Are student athletes being protected?’ I would like to add, are the female students and other women who are in contact with such athletic programs being protected?”
Arguing that sports “has become a cancer in our culture,” Don McPherson of the Sports Leadership Institute at Adelphi University explained that his life as an advocate to prevent violence against women came about because he was a football player. Citing personal experience, he said that violence against women is learned at a very early age. Mr. McPherson explained that comments such as “you throw like a girl,” beer advertisements that objectify women, and the practice of cheerleaders baking cupcakes for the football team all teach men to be disrespectful of women long before they become college athletes. He suggested that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its member institutions should implement a program “to help high school student athletes transition to the pressure, scrutiny and responsibilities of being a division I-A student athlete.” He also suggested that college athletic programs should no longer function in isolation of the larger campus community. Mr. McPherson concluded, “The problem of sexual violence and inappropriate sexual behavior that has sparked this discussion is not unique to college athletics or the recruiting process. There are ongoing efforts on most college campuses to address the problem of violence against women. By becoming more cooperative and proactive, athletics programs can have a tremendous impact on the efforts to protect all students, including student athletes.”
President of the University of Colorado System, Dr. Elizabeth Hoffman, summarized the steps she has taken to address the allegations at the University of Colorado Boulder Campus. The steps include the establishment of an independent investigative committee to examine the allegations related to recruiting and the athletic culture, and an ongoing review of the university’s policies and procedures, not just with regard to the football program and recruiting, but also with regard to alcohol abuse, sexual harassment, and sexual assault on campus.
In response to the media attention, David Berst of the NCAA explained that the association formed an ad hoc task force to address recruiting issues. “The task force,” he said, “intends to propose changes that ensure an adequate opportunity for prospects to evaluate the academic, campus, social, team and community environments, while also requiring standards of appropriate conduct and accountability.” Dr. Berst told the subcommittee that the task force reviews were being “fast-tracked” because the NCAA does not “intend to go through another football recruiting season without new standards in place.”
During the question and answer session, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) expressed her concern that some academic institutions allow high school student athletes to stay with female student hosts during their recruiting visits, and asked what could be done to prevent this practice. Mr. Bernst said that the NCAA does not currently have rules to prohibit females from hosting prospective students, but that the task force does plan to address the issue. Rep. DeGette requested that the subcommittee hold another hearing on the subject of athlete recruiting when the new NCAA rules have been formalized. Rep. Stearns agreed.
