Knight Commission Releases Plan To Create Racial Equity For Black College Athletes

Reforms include permanently eliminating standardized testing for athletic eligibility, boosting diversity in recruiting and hiring of leadership, creating more opportunities for Black student leadership and advocacy, and a renewed request for the College Football Playoff to invest in diversity initiatives.

Knight Commission report on racial equity in college sports

Statement from Global Sport Institute CEO: We thank those at the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for their work and the release of their latest report, “Achieving Racial Equity in College Sports.” This broad effort focused on diversity, equity and inclusion at the college level is much-needed, and particularly heartening are the specific steps aimed toward improving the college sport landscape.

Our work at the Global Sport Institute is inherently aligned, particularly with our initiatives to focus on athlete education, increase opportunities for promotion and development, and take a deeper look at the hiring and firing patterns of college leadership at the highest levels. Through our Field Studies series, we examine these pathways and “pipelines'' for Power 5 football coaches and NCAA athletic directors, with even more sports sectors to come.

To add to our collective impact, we plan to grow this work even further with best practices and action items gleaned from our research. Insights like those from the Knight Commission help move us toward our shared goals of greater equity in sport.

Read the full write-up here.