ABSTRACT
Corruption in college sports is traceable back to the very first intercollegiate athletics contest in the US, a boat race between Harvard and Yale in 1852 on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. Problems in college sports have escalated since President Roosevelt threatened to end football in 1905. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the Indianapolis-based entity that creates policy and governs most intercollegiate sports programs, has jobs to protect. Institutional leaders are seduced by revenue generated through big-time sports programs; by dollars procured via corporate sponsorships, television contracts, and alumni giving. At many institutions, athletics departments are seemingly on the outskirts, even when they are physically situated in or near the center of campus. Statements such as the one the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) crafted in 1989, as well as many of the previously cited reports from the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, spotlight longstanding governance tensions between faculty and athletics departments.
