NAFCAR Set out to Change the Collegiate Landscape 12 Years Ago This Week

Last week we chronicled Eli Manning's push into the spotlight at Ole Miss as we walked down memory lane in "This week in college football." This week we go off the field to unite the past and present with a look at college athletic reform.

We're seeing the term "money grab" not just personified, but exemplified, by the college athletics landscape that we live in today. Teams are shuffling conferences to get more television cash. Television executives are dictating schedules to move games to different dates and different times to maximize the revenue that can be brought in. Athletes are being caught having run afoul of the NCAA's rules and schools are absorbing the punishments as sanctions are handed down.

In short, cash is king. As teams look to stuff their pockets, college sports is as healthy, financially, as it has ever been. The new NCAA tournament contract is robust. The BCS is still handing out wads of cash. Television contracts are keeping teams flush with money. The business of college sports is alive and well. 

Twelve years ago it was the goal of a group of two dozen academics to nip this in the bud. The National Alliance for Collegiate Athletics Reform was born in March of 2000. Their goals?

Eliminating the term "student-athlete."

Removing academic counseling and support programs from the control of athletic departments and making faculty senates responsible for these programs as well as providing academic support for all students, not just those engaged in intercollegiate athletics. 

Publicly disclosing academic information about all students, including academic major, academic adviser, courses and instructors. No individual's grades would be disclosed. For each intercollegiate athletic team, the following information would be disclosed at the end of each semester: courses enrolled in by team members, the average of the grades given in the course, and the instructor of the course.