The NCAA's Academic Performance Program: Academic Reform or Academic Racism?

Abstract

This article addresses the direct impact of the APP and APR on student-athletes and member institutions. The APP needs critical scrutiny because it appears that a disproportionate level of punishment is being levied against Historically Black Colleges and Universities ("HBCUs") and AfricanAmerican males. This potentially discriminatory result leads to inevitable comparisons between this current academic reform package and one of the NCAA's previous reform packages, Proposition 16 ("Prop. 16"). Although the two academic reform packages differ in fundamental ways, there is an eerie corollary. Ironically, when President Brand introduced the APP, APR, and GSR he heralded the programs as "well-thought-out." However, it appears the NCAA's current academic reform package was not as "wellthought-out" as President Brand would have liked. ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR Copyright of UCLA Entertainment Law Review is the property of UCLA Law Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)