The Drake Group, a national organization of faculty and others whose mission is to defend educational integrity in higher education from the corrosive aspects of commercialized college sports, issued a strong statement in support of the efforts of North Carolina state senator Don Davis and other members of the North Carolina General Assembly to better protect college athletes attending the state's higher education institutions.

 

Dr. B. David Ridpath, president of The Drake Group and Past President, Dr. Fritz Polite issued a strong statement in support of General Assembly of North Carolina Senate Bill DRS35135-TCz-8 - a University Student-Athlete Protection Commission:   

 

"This legislation would establish strong, independent oversight to ensure fair and consistent treatment of college athletes in the important areas of academic integrity, academic opportunity, health and safety, due process, prevention of retaliation in the event of athlete complaints and public transparency of academic and injury data, they said.  

 

"The bill also calls for the Commission to study and make recommendations related to college athlete health insurance coverage, return to play and other medical management decisions regarding athlete injuries, consistency in health and safety standards, and improvement of academic support.  Further, the proposed bill will also direct the Commission to work with chief academic officers of state higher education institutions to examine the impact of athletic time requirements on academics, whether institutions improperly interfere with the selection of courses and majors of college athletes and whether institutions are adequately supporting the career interest of college athletes.  The Drake Group strongly applauds this initiative and hopes that more states will adopt similar oversight models."