The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- December 20, 1999

NCAA Time line -- 1990-99

1990

January Proposal No. 42 rescinded. "Reform movement" gains strength as CEO agenda prevails at Convention. Debate over legislation to reduce time demands on student-athletes consumes five hours; Division I institutions required to publish graduation rates by 1991.

February NCAA moves to a new facility in Overland Park, Kansas.

May Reports from the Special Committee on Cost Reduction and the Special Committee to Review the NCAA Membership Structure are released. Proposals include creation of a "restricted-earnings" coaching position.

The University of Notre Dame breaks ranks with the College Football Association and sells rights for its regular-season home football games to NBC.

Forty-seven schools agree to take part in a test of a Division I athletics certification program.

September Sara Lee Corporation pledges a minimum of $6 million to promote women's intercollegiate athletics, including what is now known as the Woman of the Year award.

October Congress approves Student Right-to-Know Act, which requires public disclosure of student and student-athlete graduation rates.

NCAA establishes disability coverage to financially protect student-athletes likely to be selected in the early rounds of the National Football League or National Basketball Association drafts.

December Executive Committee approves revenue-distribution plan that will change the way in which television revenue is distributed to the membership.

1991

January Presidents Commission reforms are broadly supported at annual Convention. Legislation focuses on cutting costs, reducing time demands on student-athletes and strengthening division membership criteria. Restricted-earnings coaching position is created at this Convention.

Judith M. Sweet, athletics director at the University of California, San Diego, is elected president of the NCAA, the only woman to hold the position.

Presidents Commission identifies the establishment of more demanding academic standards as a major priority for the approaching year.

March Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics issues a 47-page report, the primary conclusion of which is that chief executive officer control of intercollegiate athletics is essential.

April NCAA Council concludes that the Association should respond aggressively to so-called "due-process laws" being enacted in several states. The laws compromise the NCAA's ability to enforce its rules.

May Presidents Commission hearings reveal widespread support for stronger academic standards.

November Mary Beth Riley of Canisius College is honored as the first NCAA Woman of the Year.

NCAA sues the state of Nevada for relief from a state "due-process" law that prevents the Association from completing an infractions case involving the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

1992

January NCAA Council approves recommendations from the Special Committee to Review the NCAA Enforcement and Infractions Process to enhance the speed, openness and fairness of the Association's enforcement effort.

Presidents Commission academic reform measures -- including Proposal No. 16, which establishes an initial-eligibility index -- approved by large majorities.

Five Division I-A conferences and the University of Notre Dame complete an agreement with a group of postseason football bowl games that increases the likelihood of a national championship game.

February U.S. Supreme Court rules that Title IX plaintiffs may recover monetary damages for intentional violations of the statute.

March First NCAA gender-equity study shows significant disparities between the treatment of males and females in intercollegiate athletics. Executive Director Richard D. Schultz announces the appointment of a Gender-Equity Task Force to address problems identified in the report.

June Federal judge strikes down Nevada "due-process" law. A similar law is overturned in Florida in November 1994.

July First Division I graduation-rate study shows that student-athletes graduate at about the same rate as the general student body but that graduation rates for black student-athletes and for student-athletes in "revenue sports" are lower.

October Research Report 92-01 indicates that graduation rates for student-athlete increased after Proposition 48 went into effect in 1986.

1993

January Convention approves more reform proposals, including creation of a Division I athletics certification program and establishment of an NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse becomes operational in August 1993.

May Richard D. Schultz says he will resign as NCAA executive director in the wake of the conclusion of an independent fact-finder that he knew of improper loans to student-athletes while he was director of athletics at the University of Virginia.

August Council accepts report of Gender-Equity Task Force, which calls for the Association's membership to achieve gender equity on an institution-by-institution basis. The report calls for an ultimate goal of male/female athletics participation that is substantially proportionate to the overall student body but notes that the participation, efforts and interests tests of the Title IX regulation are the appropriate tests for equitable participation.

November Cedric W. Dempsey, athletics director at the University of Arizona, chosen to replace Richard D. Schultz as executive director.

December Special committee headed by University of California, Los Angeles, Chancellor Charles E. Young appointed to gather information about the feasibility of a Division I-A football championship.

1994

January The Black Coaches Association threatens a boycott of men's college basketball games in response to the defeat of a legislative proposal that would have increased the number of Division I men's basketball grant-in-aids from 13 to 14 (the boycott is subsequently averted). Division I commissioners announce a restructuring proposal that would eliminate the one-institution, one-vote means of governance in Division I; three division-specific restructuring task forces are subsequently appointed.

California Supreme Court upholds legality of NCAA drug-testing program.

June Special Committee to Study a Division I-A Football Championship concludes that while merit exists for the concept of a playoff, the committee cannot recommend specific legislation. The special committee seeks an extension from the NCAA Joint Policy Board, but the extension is not granted, thus ending the examination.

Special Committee to Review Initial-Eligibility Standards recommends new Division I standards essentially based on eliminating the test-score endpoints. Under the proposal, a prospect would qualify with an SAT score of 410 if he or she had a 3.000 grade-point average in 13 core courses. The proposal is defeated at the 1995 Convention.

October Survey by the Committee on Women's Athletics shows Association-wide confusion over the role of the senior woman administrator position.

Coaches for men's nonrevenue sports appeal to Congress for relief from Title IX regulations.

December The NCAA and CBS agree on a new $1.725 billion, eight-year television contract.

The Division I Task Force to Review the NCAA Membership Structure recommends a structural model with almost total federation among the three divisions.

1995

March First Division I certification decisions are announced.

April In a landmark Title IX case, a federal judge rules that Brown University is in violation of Title IX even though the university offers an extensive women's intercollegiate athletics program. Judge Raymond Pettine rules that the university has failed to meet any part of Title IX's three-part compliance test.

NCAA opens federal relations office in Washington, D.C.

May The House Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education, Training and Lifelong Learning conducts hearings on the effects of Title IX regulations.

The NCAA Division I Women's Softball Committee votes to ban titanium bats in the 1995 Division I championship because of safety concerns.

NCAA lifts earnings restriction on the restricted-earnings coaching position after a federal judge rules for the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the NCAA.

August Former Executive Director Walter Byers charges in a book that the NCAA has lost control of the direction of college athletics to the detriment of students who play the games.

September The Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education produces a document clarifying its three-part Title IX compliance test.

November Government releases regulations for the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act.

1996

January Convention approves series of proposals to begin process of governance restructuring.

February Football Rules Committee approves tiebreaker format for regular-season football games.

May College Football Association board of directors votes to disband the organization, effective in June 1997.

July New "super alliance" bowl arrangement announced to assure a championship game between the top two Division I-A football teams.

December NCAA agrees to five-year, $75 million marketing agreement with Host Communications Inc.

1997

January Convention approves rest of restructuring legislation package. Division I approves proposal that permits student-athletes to work during the school year and earn up to the cost of attendance.

May NCAA announces plans to relocate its national office to Indianapolis.

August The NCAA's new governance system becomes effective.

1998

March U.S. appeals court rules that Title IX applies directly to the NCAA because the Association receives dues money from institutions that receive federal aid.

April The NCAA settles a legal dispute with former University of Nevada, Las Vegas, men's basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian for $2.5 million.

May Federal judge awards $67 million to plaintiffs in restricted-earnings case.

NCAA and justice department reach agreement on consent decree related to initial- and continuing-eligibility standards for student-athletes with learning disabilities.

1999

February The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the NCAA is not considered a recipient of federal funds just because it receives dues from member schools that do receive federal money.

March A U.S. district judge rules that the NCAA's initial-eligibility legislation (Proposition 16) has a disparate impact upon African Americans.

The NCAA and plaintiffs in the restricted-earnings coaches case announce a $54 million settlement agreement.

July The NCAA opens its new office in Indianapolis.

August A federal district court in Kansas dismisses a lawsuit by Adidas that challenged NCAA limits on the size and number of logos on uniforms.

September The NCAA Executive Committee approves a batted-ball exit speed standard of less than 97 miles per hour for bats used in all intercollegiate baseball competition among NCAA member schools.

November The Association signs an 11-year, $6 billion agreement with CBS Sports for the right to televise the Division I Men's Basketball Championship and other championship events. The deal also includes marketing opportunities related to all NCAA championships.