Mascots

Staff review panel removes institution from restricted list

A staff review committee has removed Mississippi College from a list of institutions subject to restrictions on the use of Native American mascots, names and imagery at NCAA championships.

The committee noted that the college’s use of the Choctaw name and associated imagery has received the approval of the Mississippi Board of Choctaw Indians.

“Although the NCAA Executive Committee continues to believe that stereotyping of Native Americans is wrong, it recognizes that a Native American tribe is a distinct political community and, therefore, respects the authority of the tribe to permit universities and colleges to use its name and imagery,” said Bernard Franklin, NCAA senior vice president for governance and membership.

The action leaves eight institutions currently in the process of appealing their inclusion on the list to the staff review committee, or appealing decisions by that staff committee to the Executive Committee.

The restrictions, which became effective February 1, have been stayed for the eight institutions until all administrative appeal options are exhausted or an institution opts not to pursue further avenues of appeal.

Nine institutions have been removed from the list either as a result of successful appeals of the restrictions or as a result of actions to comply, while two institutions that did not appeal are now subject to restrictions under the policy.

Litigation

Former student-athletes seek change of grant-in-aid limit

Three former Division I student-athletes at institutions in California have filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles alleging that the grant-in-aid permitted under NCAA legislation imposes an impermissible cap on financial aid under antitrust law.

The suit was filed as a class action on behalf of football and men’s basketball players at what the plaintiffs called “major” Division I institutions. It seeks to permit institutions to include “full cost of attendance” (beyond tuition, room and board, and books) in the grant-in-aid, and also seeks damages for financial aid the plaintiffs claim would have been paid if the current limitation had not been in place.

NCAA President Myles Brand’s previously stated support for including full cost of attendance in the grant-in-aid was cited by the plaintiffs in a press release from the student-athletes’ attorneys.

However, Brand also has indicated that the Association must protect the membership’s right under law to establish grant-in-aid limits.