Today marks a big shift moment, and now is the time to act to preserve the essence of college sports.
That was the key message NCAA President Mark Emmert delivered Thursday at the 2022 NCAA Convention during his annual State of College Sports remarks. Emmert delivered the speech ahead of the Association-wide vote on a new constitution.
"Today, we've got to take advantage of our ability to make those kinds of shifts," Emmert said. "These big shifts … also require that we pause and look at our core values — to look at why we're in this enterprise. What are we trying to do here? How do we reset ourselves around those core values and recommit to them?"
The constitution vote is the culmination of months of collaboration between members and the NCAA Constitution Committee.
Emmert emphasized the importance of the values included in the constitution, including:
- College athletes are students.
- Schools don't pay student-athletes to compete.
- Physical and mental health should be a priority.
- Sportsmanship and integrity count.
- Schools are in charge.
- Inclusion and diversity are essential.
"(The constitution provides) a chance to look at what is good, what's beloved, what's rewarding and what's supportive of student-athletes," Emmert said. "With the passage of the proposed constitution, the divisions will all have a chance — all of you — to redraw the rules and keep what's working well and get rid of the extraneous that's causing so many challenges for so many of us."
Emmert acknowledged the legal and political hurdles that the Association has navigated, but that should not stop members from acting today.
"We have to define the future that we want, using this new constitution as the framework to build upon. We have to make clear why students come first. We have to make changes that prove that higher education is still willing and able to govern college sports," Emmert said. "And we've got to recognize that if we don't do that, if we don't step up to this challenge now, to this big moment, others are surely willing and able to do it."
For more on the constitution vote and other topics at the 2022 NCAA Convention, visit ncaa.org/convention.
