Exploitation of Collegiate Athletes

WHEREAS, intercollegiate athletics, especially in football and basketball, have become a lucrative business; and

WHEREAS, the endowments and budgets of colleges and universities, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), coaches, athletic directors, some alumni, businesses, cities and counties have benefited richly from the growth of income-generating sports; and

WHEREAS, the NCAA recently secured a multi-billion dollar contract with CBS for the broadcasting rights of the basketball championships alone; and

WHEREAS, collegiate athletics represent the "gateway" or farm club system for professional football and basketball; and

WHEREAS, African American students are disproportionately represented among collegiate football and basketball players;

WHEREAS, the majority of collegiate football and basketball "stars" are African American; and

WHEREAS, it is illegal for students to share in the profits generated by their work; and

WHEREAS, students and the colleges they attend are frequently, severely disciplined for minor but often inadvertent infractions of NCAA rules regarding compensation; and

WHEREAS, many athletes are indigent; and

WHEREAS, the graduation rates of student athletes of color are often sub-standard; and

WHEREAS, many athletes of color leave college with no degree, broken dreams and bodies.

BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP work with NCAA, NAIA, colleges and universities and the newly formed Student Athletic Association to achieve equitable treatment of student athletes in income-generating sports including, but not limited to, compensation and academic resource services that will lead to graduation even after their college eligibility has expired.