Varsity Blues: Student Athlete Unionization Is the Wrong Way Forward to Reform Collegiate Athletics

Michael P. Cianfichi

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) and American collegiate athletics model are under intense scrutiny, both in the court of law and public opinion. While the end goals to reform the lackluster education standards and to cease the exploitation of student athletes are necessary and legitimate, the same cannot be said of the means by which some groups and commentators seek to do so. For example, the recent decision by a Regional Director (“RD”) of the National Labor Relations Board (“the Board”) in the Northwestern University (“NWU”) case finding scholarship football student athletes to be “employees” within the meaning of Section 2(3) of the National Labor Relations Act (“the Act”) violates established precedent and inappropriately thrusts labor union norms into the realm of higher education. Board precedent and statutory interpretation of the Act demonstrate that student athletes on scholarship at a university are not--and were never intended to be--employees of their university within the meaning of the Act. On review, the Board should therefore reverse the RD's decision or, in the alternative, vacate the RD's decision and decline jurisdiction.

By involving itself in this issue, the Board risks creating severe unintended consequences and further complicating the matter due to its limited jurisdiction. Instead, this Comment recommends the NCAA should drive efforts to remedy the exploitative collegiate athletics model and focus on what is best for the student athlete in the long term--obtaining an education and degree. The NCAA, more than the Board or a state legislature, is best positioned to enact equitable, uniform, and effective reforms. These reforms should include allowing student athletes to profit from the use of their image and likeness, and reemphasizing the “student” in student athlete by ensuring that student athletes have the opportunity to succeed in the classroom.

The NWU case places the fate of student athletes across the country at a crossroads: the cold economics of an employment relationship in one direction and a warm and strong educational environment in the other. This Comment strongly supports the latter, recognizing that universities are a place where all those pursuing degrees are primarily students and must be treated as such, with the goal of providing the knowledge and skills necessary for a successful career--not temporary employment. Although universities provide student athletes with full-ride scholarships, one must ask whether these “free educations” are also free of educational value. Instead of shortsightedly changing collegiate athletics to make student athletes athletic employees of their university, a renewed emphasis on education would be the wiser reform, fulfilling the university mission of preparing its students for a long and prosperous career.