The United Student-Athletes of America: Should College Athletes Organize in Order to Protect Their Rights and Address the Ills of Intercollgiate Athletics?

Authors

Marc Jenkins

First Page

39

Abstract

This note will focus on the legal feasibility and practicality of forming a student-athlete players association or union. It assumes that a strike is a possible avenue the CAC may take in the future. Unlike the professional sports unions, the make-up of athletes on college campuses is in constant flux. This will obviously make it harder to initiate a strike. Part I of the note will concentrate on the realities of major college sports and the athletes that play them. This background will establish why student-athletes may want to form a players association. Part II will analyze the NCAA governing structure and how a players association may fit among this myriad of rules. Part III will analyze labor law and how it relates to the formation of a student-athlete players association. Part IV will compare the famed Knight Commission with the CAC and decide which one is better suited to lead an intercollegiate athletic reform movement. Finally, the proper role of a student-athlete association will be suggested.

Recommended Citation

Marc Jenkins, The United Student-Athletes of America: Should College Athletes Organize in Order to Protect Their Rights and Address the Ills of Intercollgiate Athletics?, 5 Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law 39 (2020)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/jetlaw/vol5/iss2/5