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发帖数: 758 | 1 http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/big-ten-big-mistake/2012
C. Thomas McMillen, a former member of the House of Representatives (D-Md.),
serves on the University of Maryland Board of Regents. He played on the
school’s men’s basketball team from 1970 to 1974.
It’s a done deal: On Monday, the University of Maryland’s board of
regents voted to have the school’s athletic department leave the Atlantic
Coast Conference and join the Big Ten Conference.
I am on the board, and I opposed this decision primarily because of the way
it was made. Most important, a change of this magnitude should not be made
over a weekend, with minimal documentation, little transparency and no input
from anyone who might be opposed to it. The board did not hear from any of
the constituencies that will be affected by this change — not the students,
faculty, student-athletes or alumni.
Reasonable people certainly can discuss the benefits and risks of this move.
But confidentiality agreements imposed by the commissioner of the Big Ten
squelched any real debate. Public universities receiving taxpayer money are
supposed to operate under shared governance, but what happened at Maryland
was governance by secrecy and exclusion.
The 16 members of the Board of Regents were notified Thursday of the
proposal, and we participated in a telephone call Sunday in which the
details were verbally presented to us. On Monday morning, we had to vote on
the move.
When we asked why we couldn’t hear from other stakeholders, we were told
that the nondisclosure agreement signed with the Big Ten prevented such a
discussion. We were further told that, under the terms of that agreement,
Maryland could lose the offer and the university president could be held
personally liable if details were divulged.
Maryland couldn’t even discuss the proposal with the Atlantic Coast
Conference, to which it had belonged for nearly 60 years and had helped
found. The board members were each given a single piece of paper outlining
the proposal, and it was taken away when Monday’s meeting ended. I get more
documentation when I buy a cell phone.
Given that Maryland cannot join the Big Ten until 2014, why the big rush?
The Big Ten needs Maryland to finalize a new TV package drawing on the
Washington-Baltimore market, which is the fourth-largest in the nation. It
wanted Maryland two years ago, and it will want Maryland tomorrow. There was
plenty of time to build a real case for a move if it made sense.
The real problem is that commissioners of athletic conferences can dictate
terms to universities that effectively hijack the possibility of debate, and
that is just plain wrong.
When I was a member of Congress, Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.), Rep. Ed Towns (
D-N.Y.) and I sponsored the Student Right–to-Know Act, which was passed in
1990. This legislation requires universities to disclose information
previously not revealed — the graduation rates of all students, including
student-athletes, as well as information on campus crime and other matters.
I believe we need new legislation — the Stakeholder Right-to-Know Act —
that would prohibit universities that receive federal funds from executing
confidentiality agreements on behalf of their intercollegiate athletic
programs, which limit information regarding transactions that should be
provided to important stakeholders.
Right now, universities and their boards are captive to a process controlled
by the commissioners of the various athletic conferences. Commissioners
managing hundreds of millions of dollars are extorting what they need from
the universities, and the schools are powerless to stand up to them. We need
a national solution to end this practice. What happened at Maryland is just
another case where outside athletic forces dictated terms to a university.
Once more the tail wags the dog; once more athletics distorts higher
education.
The writer, a former member of the House of Representatives (D-Md.), serves
on the University of Maryland Board of Regents. He played on the school’s
men’s basketball team from 1970 to 1974. |
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