National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

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Jun 22, 2010 8:33:13 AM

The 125 Division II presidents and chancellors attending the division's third Summit Saturday in Indianapolis got a sneak peek at their future leadership when NCAA President-Elect Mark Emmert told them how his priorities integrate with Division II's strategic-positioning platform.

Emmert, currently the president at the University of Washington, said protecting the collegiate model of athletics in a financially challenging climate and making sure the NCAA is a student-centered Association will be among his immediate areas of focus when he becomes the NCAA's fifth chief executive no later than November 1.

He also plans to rely heavily on presidential leadership – a trait he praised Division II for exhibiting during an ambitious identity and branding campaign over the past five years.

"You need to be proud of what has happened with Division II through your leadership," Emmert said in a ballroom filled with the division's hexagon imagery and the now-familiar "I Chose" message.

"To completely change what you are doing and what you are about, and to see the impact it is having – and to be leaders, quite frankly, for what the rest of the NCAA can do – is remarkable," Emmert said. "I congratulate you on that work, and for allowing me and my colleagues a chance to sit down with others and cite you as an example of having put your shoulder to the wheel."

Emmert said the presidents' effort is an example of the NCAA working collectively to effect change.

"The NCAA is an association of members – it is a collegiate association – it is your Association," he said. "It's sometimes frustrating to hear people from member institutions say, ‘You and the NCAA ought to do such and such.' And I want to say back to them, ‘No, no, no, it's we and the NCAA. This is us collectively working through 200 committees that frame and shape and make the NCAA what it is and what it isn't.'

"I can't think of a better example of that than Division II," he said. "The role that you all have played in reshaping this division in a remarkably short time is a reflection of the power and strength of the leadership from presidents and chancellors. If we can collectively keep presidents and chancellors across all three divisions engaged and active in our affairs, we can get some pretty remarkable things done. You as presidents and chancellors are the impetus for that."

Emmert, who was selected by the NCAA Executive Committee in April, will assume the leadership role from Interim President Jim Isch, whom Emmert also praised for his leadership since the death of Myles Brand in September 2009.

In addition to his specific remarks about Division II, Emmert also reflected broadly on the opportunities and challenges that await him as the Association's new leader.

• On immediate priorities: "The priorities are student-athlete well-being and protection of the collegiate model that we all know and feel viscerally about, but that which we have to convert into language and actions that are meaningful to a public that doesn't quite understand it – or if they do, they don't always believe us. We have to fix that. The stronger the link is between our athletics programs and our academic programs – the more those athletics experiences are incorporated into the academic experiences – then we don't have to talk about athletics and academics as separate entities but as part of the whole academic experience."
• On student-athlete academic success (related to discussion with reporters about academics before the start of this year's Division I men's basketball tournament): "I said, ‘Isn't it great that you and I are having a conversation about the academic success of our basketball teams?' Ten years earlier that was an impossible conversation. There wasn't anyone 10 years ago wondering what the Academic Progress Rates were for the schools in the Division I men's basketball tournament because the APR didn't exist. Now we have a serious conversation going on. We have you (presidents) and all of our colleagues around the country answering to reporters and parents and prospective student-athletes about how our student-athletes are doing academically. We are changing the debate inside intercollegiate athletics."
• On balancing amateurism and commercial activities: "The NCAA did a fabulous job of negotiating the most recent media rights agreement, but the $10.8 billion is what makes the headlines. Then you all go to your Rotary Clubs and say that in college sports we care about amateurism. And they look at you and say, ‘$10.8 billion and amateurism? Help me understand that.' We have to make sure people know what we stand for and what we care about. Yes, we want to maximize our media contracts, but we have to talk about why. What do we do with those resources? Where does that money go? How does it enhance students' lives? How does it help shape the championships across all our sports?"
• On the value that football and basketball add to the enterprise: "As a president, I say to my women's golf fans, ‘The most important thing you can do is buy football tickets.' If you love rowing, buy football tickets. If you love cross country, buy football tickets. We couldn't do any of those other sports if we weren't successful in football. In the NCAA, we can't support anything else we love unless we're successful in Division I men's basketball. Whether you like that or not, it's just a fact. But we have to make the case for what we do with those resources."
• On the collegiate model of athletics: "We must be student-centered in all that we do. The Association was founded on the notion of integrating athletics into the educational experience, and we have to make sure we deliver on that 100-year-old promise. We have to remind ourselves that this is about the young men and women we asked to come to our schools for a great educational experience. We have to collectively deliver on those promises. That's what you care about. That's why we're in this business."
• On diversity and inclusion: "We are not the NCAA for part of America but for all of America. We have to walk that talk."