Over 220 Attend Manatt-Sponsored Symposium on the Role of Sports in Higher Education

Author: Benjamin G. Shatz

Selected Proceedings Available for Download at the Conclusion of this Newsletter.

The role of sports in higher education was the subject of a day-long symposium sponsored by Manatt at Santa Clara University on September 6. Numerous distinguished speakers opined on that controversial subject, including keynoters Joe Nocera (New York Times Op-Ed columnist) and Wallace Renfro (Vice-President and Chief Policy Advisor of the NCAA). "Every shade of opinion on this subject was represented at the Symposium," said Manatt partner and Chair of Manatt's sports practice group, Ron Katz, who chaired the Symposium. "That led to some lively exchanges during the day among both panelists and audience members."

The Symposium was held under the auspices of Santa Clara University's Institute of Sports Law and Ethics (ISLE), which Katz also chairs. "It is ironic that, with all the ethical problems cropping up in sports, there has not, until now, been an organization dealing exclusively with that issue," Katz said in his remarks at the Symposium. "We think that ISLE fills an important need, and one of its first deliverables will be a report by a task force on the subject of the Symposium, which we hope to complete within the next year."

Attendees received a hard copy of the Selected Proceedings of the Symposium, which contained 14 articles as diverse as "Amateurism, Professionalism, Commercial Activity and Intercollegiate Athletics: Ambivalence about Principles," by Wallace Renfro, and "The Penn State Scandal: Lessons for Universities Confronted with a Public Relations Crisis," by Terry Fahn, who works for a crisis management company.

Here is the Table of Contents of the Selected Proceedings. The full document can be downloaded here.