With the landmark House v. NCAA settlement now solidly in place, it has reshaped college athletics. Student athletes have entered a new era — one where they are finally acknowledged not just as students, but as the economic engine of billion-dollar sports programs.
Revenue sharing in college sports has begun, albeit on a small scale. But financial fairness is just one piece of the larger puzzle. Now that athletes have the power to transfer freely and earn compensation through Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals, we must ask: What will they do with their voice, platform and their leverage?
We come together as longtime educators, advocates for athletes and civil rights with what we hope is an inspirational message. We are fans of college sports. But we are also former educators who have seen firsthand how athletics can be a springboard for leadership, not just celebrity.
That’s why we ask: Where is the leadership in the mode of Harry Edwards in this generation? Where are the activist athletes in the mode of yesterday? We acknowledge the ongoing work of some, but the time is now for a more focused universal movement. Edwards, a sociologist and activist, organized the Olympic Project for Human Rights and inspired the 1968 Mexico City protest by sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos — an act of courage that still resonates. Their raised black-gloved fists in the Black Power salute still symbolizes a defiant act of protest.
It’s a question with historical echoes. In the late 1960s, Black college athletes across the country risked scholarships, careers and personal safety to take principled stands. The “Black 14” at the University of Wyoming were dismissed for planning a peaceful protest against racial discrimination. The “Syracuse 8” boycotted football to protest unequal treatment and inadequate medical care. These athletes paid a steep price, but they helped move their institutions, and the country, toward greater accountability.
More recently many individual black athletes have lent their vocal platforms to protest specific instances of injustice. Most notable have been the voices of protest decrying the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery that include LeBron James, Dawn Staley and our own Jaylen Brown, who drove 15 hours to Atlanta to join Malcolm Brogdon in protesting Floyd’s death. But, by far the most meaningful individual black athlete protest was that of “The Greatest,” Muhammad Ali in his protest against the Vietnam War by refusing to register and enlist in fighting that war. Ali paid a high price.
We would be remiss if we failed to mention the protest efforts of former NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith in response to the University of Florida’s decision to eliminate all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and staff. Smith vehemently argued publicly against this decision. His argument was partially based upon the political motivation behind the decision and the leadership disappointment in failing to fairly welcome all students.
Today’s athletes have more protection and visibility. They are also playing in a moment of contradiction. Consider the Southeastern Conference (SEC), where football recently generated over $700 million in revenue shared among its member schools. These teams, overwhelmingly pow ered by Black athletes, compete in states where voting rights continue to be under assault. The Southern Poverty Law Center has active lawsuits against several of these states—Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana—for violating the Voting Rights Act. The recent Supreme Court decision is a devastating blow to voting rights and has heightened the need for advocacy at all levels. These athletes should use their newly acquired leverage to address this issue as well as others.
With more mobility and money than ever before, athletes are in a position to act. They can choose schools based on values supportive of equality and opportunity for all. They can speak out.
They can organize. But the burden of change should not fall on young shoulders alone. We, as a society, must also rise to meet the moment. Fans, alumni, administrators, journalists and educators must support athletes who take principled stands. We must recognize that fairness on the field must be matched by fairness at the ballot box and beyond.
From the House settlement to NIL to civil rights, the next step is not just possible. It is necessary. And it belongs to all of us.
Oliver “Skip” Grant, 90 years old, is a retired athletic director of St. Albans School in Washington, D.C. William D. McLaurin, 86 years old, is a retired educator and cofounder of the Benjamin Banneker Charter School in Cambridge and a long-time seasonal resident of Martha’s Vineyard. Kenneth L. Shropshire, 70 years old, is professor emeritus at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and coauthor of the forthcoming second edition of “The Miseducation of the Student Athlete: How to Fix College Sports,” University of Pennsylvania Press.
