BOSTON - The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics announced on Wednesday the America East Conference as a C.A.R.E. Champion following the league's adoption and implementation of all designation requirements. A C.A.R.E. Champion Connects Athletics Revenues with the Educational model of college sports by prioritizing college athletes’ education, health, safety, well-being, equity, and opportunity in financial incentives and athletics spending.
Five Division I conferences have now achieved C.A.R.E. Champion distinction with the America East Conference and The Summit League joining the Big Sky Conference, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and The Southern Conference as C.A.R.E. Champions.
“The America East Conference is humbled and grateful to receive C.A.R.E. Champion status from the Knight Commission," said America East Commissioner, Brad Walker. "America East and its member institutions will carry this distinction with pride through our equitable core values and processes as we continue to enhance the student-athlete experience within our conference.”?
Knight Commission Co-Chair Len Elmore said, “With so much uncertainty swirling in college sports, the America East Conference and The Summit League are to be commended for firmly stating their core values and ensuring that those values are reflected in the conferences’ revenue distribution policies. The America East Conference and The Summit League join the other C.A.R.E. Champions as Division I leaders in aligning financial incentives with educational values.”
In September, America East received the prestigious C.A.R.E. model grant. The grants were awarded to the six conferences through the Knight Commission’s C.A.R.E. Model program by meeting criteria for Connecting Athletics Revenues with the Educational Model of College Sports. Release
Knight Commission Co-Chair Len Elmore said, “With so much uncertainty swirling in college sports, the America East Conference and The Summit League are to be commended for firmly stating their core values and ensuring that those values are reflected in the conferences’ revenue distribution policies. The America East Conference and The Summit League join the other C.A.R.E. Champions as Division I leaders in aligning financial incentives with educational values.”
In September, America East received the prestigious C.A.R.E. model grant. Release
Knight Commission Co-Chair Pamela Bernard said, “Earning the C.A.R.E. Champion distinction demonstrates the America East Conference and The Summit League’s respective commitment to putting principles into practice and prioritizing college athletes’ education, gender equity, and opportunity. We congratulate these conferences for their leadership.”
The C.A.R.E. Model (Connecting Athletics Revenues with the Educational Model of College Sports) was developed by the Knight Commission to assist conferences and national entities in bolstering accountability and to ensure that both the distribution and spending of shared athletics revenue prioritize college athletes’ education, health, safety, well-being, equity, and opportunity. This holistic model supports the educational mission of college sports and includes four principles and requirements:
- Transparency
- Independent Oversight
- Incentives for Core Values of Education, Gender Equity, and Opportunity
- Financial Responsibility for Education, Health, Safety, and Well-Being
C.A.R.E. Champions meet criteria indicating that their conference distributions have appropriate incentives for the core values of education, gender equity, and opportunity. Regarding gender equity incentives, the criteria require that any conference awarding financial incentives for athletics success must do so equally for its men’s and women’s teams on an annual basis.
As C.A.R.E. Champion Conferences, the America East and The Summit League will each receive a $25,000 grant from the Knight Commission to implement the C.A.R.E. Model principles and educate institutional leaders, staff, college athletes, and other stakeholders about how this new framework positively impacts college athletes’ experiences.
About America East
Founded in 1979, the America East Conference is an elite NCAA Division I athletic conference that fosters an environment for student-athletes to become champions. Comprised of academically renowned, like-minded member institutions located in the Northeast region of the United States, America East is committed to broad-based excellence and progressive in its approach to supporting its more than 3,500 student-athletes across 18 sponsored sports. For more information, visit www.AmericaEast.com and follow the America East Conference and its social media channels, @AmericaEast.
About the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics
The Knight Commission, founded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in 1989, is an independent group that leads transformational change to prioritize college athletes’ education, health, safety, and success. For more information about the Commission’s impact, recommendations, and reports, visit knightcommission.org.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit kf.org.