In the News...
Upcoming: Symposium on the Educational Value of Sport
Podcast episode for NPR's "Oregon Grapevine", which featuring conversations with people who are actively and passionately creating the present and future in which they wish to live. This episode outlines the intensive work and launch of the Sport Major.
In this podcast episode on the NYCTalk Radio, we examine the leadership pipeline in sport - from foundational levels of youth coaching to the high-stakes environments of college and professional athletics. We explore the systemic flaws that limit both athlete and coach development and how these challenges reflect broader issues in leadership and education.
"If we truly want to develop leaders and experts—not just in sport, but in life—we have to stop treating sport like a sideshow and start recognizing it as a core part of education."
This first meeting of the Sports Major Collective was designed to offer the tools and resources to help leaders around the country begin to conceptualize and create a Sport Performance Major at their own institutions. Using research, data and logic to support this case this has become a reality at schools such as Southern Virginia University.
"After years of navigating bureaucracy, roadblocks, anti-athlete bias, and rejection from administrators at UNC, we finally have a win to celebrate. For more than a decade, my students, collaborators, and I have built a body of research and advocated for academic pathways for athletes—akin to what exists for music or dance majors.
Along the way, I was told I wouldn’t get tenure. Told to stop being so “athlete-friendly.” Told to cease and desist. Told we didn’t want to create “athlete ghettos.” But we kept going. And this week, the first program of its kind was announced at Southern Virginia University—and more will follow.
Nike has helped provide a platform for this growing community of faculty, the National Science Foundation has provided funding for the research, and a movement is beginning. I’m so deeply grateful for the incredible students and colleagues who stuck with me through it all. This is only the beginning."
A fantastic discussion about cultivating career skills through athletic participation with college and university presidents and other innovated business leaders. This annual, collaborative event held through the Michigan Colleges Alliance connects the academic and business sectors to spark innovation and uncover important insights relating across fields.
Becoming the Best Version of Yourself Public Lecture at Southern Virginia University
Launch of Sport as Science Expertise Class at UNC
New York Times reporter, Tania Ganguli, covers the academic movement for sport and expertise majors to be offered at universities across the country, synthesizing perspectives of professors and industry members.
Erianne Weight, a professor of sport administration at theUniversity of North Carolina, started researching the idea after a 2014 meeting with faculty that followed a wide-ranging academicscandal involving their sports programs...She asked a colleague what the difference was between an athlete and a musician or dancer who pursued a degree at the university...Ms. Weight is interested in building a major on “expertise” that would explore what it takes to be a highly trained athlete, and possibly instruct students about skills they need to take full advantage of N.I.L. opportunities like marketing and branding. These types of courses, she said, would “pair their passion with science.”
Commentary by Matt Brown (Extra Points) on an article commissioned by the Knight Commission to summarize the literature and provide examples of what integration of collegiate athletics could look like within higher education..
"By examining how formal education and athletic participation intersect, we can unlock the potential for athletics to serve as a truly holistic educational experience. It’s a powerful reminder that college sports, even at their most commercialized and professionalized levels, are not solely about competition; they are about education, personal growth, and preparing individuals for life well beyond the final lap, serve, down, or whistle. Amid the ongoing transformation and restructuring of college sports, now is the ideal time to reclaim and refocus academic priorities through athletics."
Discussion on WFAE with Paul Finebaum (ESPN) and Laine Higgens (WSJ).
"Conference realignment shines a light on the incongruency between our organizational systems and values - if wealth creation is the goal, organizational structures should follow. If education is the goal, athletics should be integrated into the academic structures similar to music, dance, or theatre"
"We’re setting up our athletes on a very challenging path because we are not facilitating academic credit for things they really should be getting credit for,” Weight said. “What that makes them have to do is balance these two full-time jobs and probably not succeed in the classroom as they would if they were able to focus on just a few classes that they were interested in given all the other demands on their time"
The Art and Science of Expertise course at the heart of my dream to facilitate experiential education paired with student passion was highlighted in The Well featuring one of my amazing collaborators, Jeff Green, a leading researcher in learning sciences.
Improving your Weaknesses
Discussion on the Madam Athlete Podcast covering following our passions, improving our weaknesses, and pushing outside our comfort zones.
"We have had three calls and each involved passionate discussion and debate about the future of college football," said Erianne Weight, director of the Center for Research in Intercollegiate Athletics. "The very clear consensus is that the status quo is no longer acceptable."
Discussion on the United Soccer Coaches Podcast with April Heinrichs, Dean Links, Coach Mark Lange, Kab Hakim, and Caiman Stevens about Title IX - the law that gave me the life I lead.
Sport Administration Grad student Araad Fisher talks about his research journey and shares a message, "be persistent on the path to accomplishing your goals"
Outline of a National Science Foundation grant project pursued by my wonderful University of Maryland team. Health and fitness data tracking tools can help athletes learn about data literacy, inspire STEM pursuits, combat the "dumb jock" stereotype, and train for their next game.
The Collegiate Sports Associates team created a professional development program that gives senior level aspiring Directors of Athletics the opportunity to experience a mock Division I AD Search
National Science Foundation (NSF)-Funded Research Project "Developing and investigating data science interventions connected to university athletics to address systemic racism in undergraduate STEM education".
"Despite his high level of analysis, this athlete’s STEM identity is not regarded as academic by the university he plays for. Black male athletes, who make up a small percentage of undergraduate students but are the majority of athletes in the lucrative industries of basketball and football, often fight against stereotypes about their intelligence that are rooted in racism and classism."
A call to action to be discriminating consumers, and a relegation proposal to separate football from the NCAA.
"We have allowed football television revenue to take priority over common sense, iconic rivalries and athlete, coach and employee well-being. Currently we’re led by an alternative golden rule — those who have the gold make the rules...Let’s let football operate independently from the NCAA and conference framework, permitting conferences and the NCAA to focus on regional reconstruction. Let us be proactive. Let us unite in our voices, be conscious consumers, and lead by our actions."
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Unified sport management associations in North America join as signatories on the American Historical Association statement decrying government bans on DEI education.
LEAD1 Representatives presented the proposal it recommended to the NCAA Division I Board of Directors and the Division I Transformation Committee to facilitate independent oversight of football.
Some scholars are sounding the alarm about the challenging work dynamics in the college sport industry, which are pushing people to consider other careers (see Huml et al., 2021; Taylor et al., 2019; Weight et al., 2021).
Discussion of research, sport, higher education, race, and the need for academic communities to address systemic inequities with Dr. Keith Adams on the Odd Coaches Podcast.
Standing room only for the last presentation of the conference. Day 1 as NASSM president and excited about the potential culture shift in front of us.
The Center for Research in Intercollegiate Athletics are pleased to extend a request for proposals for the fourth annucal ACC Innovation Initiative Research Grant Program
Born as a partnership between the athletic department and Exercise and Sport Science, our program has been a model of cross-campus collaboration, experiential education, and cutting-edge research since its inception. Continually trying to preserve the core and stimulate progress.
Perhaps when we embrace athletics as a true part of the academy and build an academic culture and organizational structure that values education through athletics, we can foster the collaboration and transparency that have never fully existed between athletics and the academy.
