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NCAA News Archive - 2007
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Infractions case: University of Colorado, Boulder
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The NCAA News
The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions has penalized the University of Colorado, Boulder, for major violations in its athletics program.
The violations involve 133 non-scholarship student-athletes in six sports being undercharged for training-table meals. The impermissible benefits totaled $61,700 over six academic years and led to the committee finding that the institution failed to monitor its training-table program.
Penalties for the violations include placing the university on two years of probation; a fine of $100,000 to be paid to a charitable cause involved in efforts to alleviate hunger or homelessness; and a reduction in scholarships, among other sanctions.
The institution, NCAA enforcement staff, and the infractions committee all found that the violations were inadvertent and discovered by the university’s athletics staff, who promptly reported them to the NCAA. While the committee also emphasized in its report that the violations were “limited in nature and narrow in scope,” they did constitute major violations due to the amount of extra benefits involved. The Committee on Infractions found the impermissible benefits for walk-on student-athletes occurred during 2000-01 through 2005-06.
The violations involved two distinct circumstances. The first involved walk-on student-athletes who ate training-table meals even though their practice schedules did not prohibit them from dining in the residence halls. Those student-athletes were allowed to eat training-table meals without having to pay the difference between the regular dining hall rate and the full training-table price.
Student-athletes receiving athletics scholarships may receive, as a part of their financial aid award, access to meals provided by the athletics department.
The second situation involved walk-on student-athletes living off campus who had legitimate conflicts between practice activities and their ability to get to a dining hall before it closed for the day. It is allowable in such instances for a walk-on student-athlete to eat at the training table only if those individuals have previously purchased an institutional meal plan or pay the full cost of the training-table meal. However, the university allowed off-campus walk-on student-athletes who had not purchased institutional meal plans to eat training table meals at the dining hall cost in those circumstances.
The committee found the university demonstrated a failure to monitor its training-table program, noting the institution acknowledged it had misapplied the training-table regulations over an extended period.
In determining the penalties, the Committee on Infractions considered the university’s self-imposed penalties and corrective actions. The penalties, some of which were self-imposed by the institution and adopted by the committee, are as follows:
Members of the Committee on Infractions who reviewed this case are Paul Dee, director of athletics at the University of Miami (Florida), formerly the university’s general counsel, and acting chair; Eileen Jennings, general counsel at Central Michigan University; Alfred “Jim” Lechner Jr., attorney with the Westfield, New Jersey, law firm of Lerner David and formerly a federal district judge in New Jersey; Gene Marsh, James M. Kidd Sr. Professor of Law at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, School of Law; Thomas Phillips, attorney with the Austin, Texas, office of the law firm Baker Botts and formerly the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court; Bonnie Slatton, professor of physical education and sport science, University of Iowa; and Dennis Thomas, the commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and formerly director of athletics at Hampton University.
The violations involve 133 non-scholarship student-athletes in six sports being undercharged for training-table meals. The impermissible benefits totaled $61,700 over six academic years and led to the committee finding that the institution failed to monitor its training-table program.
Penalties for the violations include placing the university on two years of probation; a fine of $100,000 to be paid to a charitable cause involved in efforts to alleviate hunger or homelessness; and a reduction in scholarships, among other sanctions.
The institution, NCAA enforcement staff, and the infractions committee all found that the violations were inadvertent and discovered by the university’s athletics staff, who promptly reported them to the NCAA. While the committee also emphasized in its report that the violations were “limited in nature and narrow in scope,” they did constitute major violations due to the amount of extra benefits involved. The Committee on Infractions found the impermissible benefits for walk-on student-athletes occurred during 2000-01 through 2005-06.
The violations involved two distinct circumstances. The first involved walk-on student-athletes who ate training-table meals even though their practice schedules did not prohibit them from dining in the residence halls. Those student-athletes were allowed to eat training-table meals without having to pay the difference between the regular dining hall rate and the full training-table price.
Student-athletes receiving athletics scholarships may receive, as a part of their financial aid award, access to meals provided by the athletics department.
The second situation involved walk-on student-athletes living off campus who had legitimate conflicts between practice activities and their ability to get to a dining hall before it closed for the day. It is allowable in such instances for a walk-on student-athlete to eat at the training table only if those individuals have previously purchased an institutional meal plan or pay the full cost of the training-table meal. However, the university allowed off-campus walk-on student-athletes who had not purchased institutional meal plans to eat training table meals at the dining hall cost in those circumstances.
The committee found the university demonstrated a failure to monitor its training-table program, noting the institution acknowledged it had misapplied the training-table regulations over an extended period.
In determining the penalties, the Committee on Infractions considered the university’s self-imposed penalties and corrective actions. The penalties, some of which were self-imposed by the institution and adopted by the committee, are as follows:
- Public reprimand and censure.
- Two years of probation (June 21, 2007, to June 20, 2009).
- Reduction in football program scholarships by one during each of the 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years, which limits the institution to 24 initial scholarships (self-imposed by the university).
- Financial penalty of $100,000 to be donated by the university at $50,000 per year of probation to a charitable entity or entities involved in efforts to alleviate hunger or homelessness in the community. The designated charity or charities must be approved by the committee and cannot be an entity in which any member of the athletics staff at the institution is involved or affiliated. While the violations amounted to an extra benefit of $61,700, the committee felt the $100,000 sanction was more appropriate since the violations took place over six academic years and involved 133 student-athletes in six sports.
Members of the Committee on Infractions who reviewed this case are Paul Dee, director of athletics at the University of Miami (Florida), formerly the university’s general counsel, and acting chair; Eileen Jennings, general counsel at Central Michigan University; Alfred “Jim” Lechner Jr., attorney with the Westfield, New Jersey, law firm of Lerner David and formerly a federal district judge in New Jersey; Gene Marsh, James M. Kidd Sr. Professor of Law at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, School of Law; Thomas Phillips, attorney with the Austin, Texas, office of the law firm Baker Botts and formerly the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court; Bonnie Slatton, professor of physical education and sport science, University of Iowa; and Dennis Thomas, the commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and formerly director of athletics at Hampton University.
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