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“At the direction of the NCAA Board of Governors and Division I Board of Directors, the NCAA took the extraordinary step of suing the Governor of Ohio. This action was necessary following the Governor’s issuance of an Executive Order that attempts to compel Ohio colleges and universities to ignore NCAA eligibility rules to the disadvantage of thousands of student athletes and institutions across the country.

The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, seeks injunctive and declaratory relief for three independent grounds. First, the Executive Order unlawfully burdens interstate commerce in violation of the Commerce Clause in the US Constitution by improperly conferring an advantage on Ohio in-state institutions. It also violates the First Amendment by purporting to provide Ohio institutions with legal cover to maintain their NCAA membership while simultaneously flouting the NCAA’s rules. Finally, the Executive Order violates state law. I know something about this. Governors are expected to turn square corners and act within their authority. The Executive Order is unlawful because Governor DeWine lacks the authority to permit Ohio colleges and universities to disregard the rules they have agreed to follow by rostering ineligible student-athletes.”

» Why It Matters. “If state courts – or governors – can unilaterally change the rules to give certain schools competitive advantages, it will become impossible for all schools to compete on a level playing field. While we are confident our complaint will succeed in federal court, the answer to this state-by-state and court-by-court race to the bottom is the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act.”

Carnegie Mellon’s Alex Feies and Washington U.’s Caitlin Bui won the DIII singles championships at the annual ITA Cup event in Rome, Ga.

Feies held off Pomona-Pitzer’s Drew Goldman, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1, for the Tartans’ third ITA singles crown and first since 2013.

Bui defeated CMS’ Rebecca Kong, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, to claim the Bears’ first-ever ITA title.

In the doubles competition, the Chicago tandem of Chase Kelley and Jesse Yang toppled Emory’s Juno Pethe and Mitchell Deames, 7-6(4), 7-5, for the men’s title. The Maroon team of Clara Zou and Rosalyn Chan defeated the Eagles’ Yanire Marte and Devin Gilroy, 7-6(7), 6-1, for the women’s championship.

“In 2001, the brilliant columnist Robert Lipsyte wrote a seminal column for The New York Times on the ugly status of college sports in American higher education. Entitled "BACKTALK; The Devil and an Angel Envision a Revolution in College Sports," Lipsyte spent time with Sonny Vaccaro (the Devil), discussing his influential role with Nike in sports marketing and athlete advocacy, and with Dr. Linda Bensel-Meyers, then an associate professor of English at the University of Tennessee and a whistleblower who was gaining national attention for exposing the academic fraud that kept athletes eligible to play their sport.

At one point in his article, Lipsyte reveals his "final four fantasy" in which the players will hold out playing in the championship game unless each is paid $50,000 for their participation. While the specific prediction never came true, Lipsyte's forecast that commercialization would eventually take over college sports was prescient. In the year 2026, college athletics are all about athlete empowerment and welfare—think, stratospheric compensation in the form of name, image and likeness. It has completely overwhelmed any pretense for ensuring that athletes receive a legitimate university education.”

» Reality Check. “Should college sports in its present form be "saved"? This question is asked all the time, and slowly, the answer is becoming more self-evident. Consider the highly touted Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) of 2026. If passed, it will be in litigation for years to come because it continues a pattern of exploitation that will bankrupt colleges and universities, most of whom do not have the revenue streams to keep it afloat. Not surprisingly, the legislation does nothing to curb the growth of compensation and other benefits for college presidents, athletics directors, coaches and staff who continue to be in charge of the athletes under their control.”

» Reality Check. “Our weak college presidents have avoided telling the truth for too long. Their secrecy and poor decision making have undermined the academic values of higher education that we once held as sacrosanct and immutable. They must cut the lifeline of financial support for college sports and hand it over to the oligarchs and owners of our wealthy professional sports teams and leagues. With the enormous distractions and investments in college sports now removed, our institutions of higher learning can focus on their only mission, and that is providing the best, most affordable education on earth for our young people. It can be done. It just requires the courage and spine to do it.”

» The Final Word. “The uncomfortable truth is on my side and the facts speak for themselves. What college presidents and their boards of trustees choose to do with the truth will determine whether the higher education sector in our country will survive and thrive or collapse from its own weight.”

» What’s In a Name. North Central College will be renamed North Central University Naperville beginning July 1 after a vote of the Board of Trustees.

» Facilities. Edgewood University has broken ground on a 40-acre site that will be the home of Eagle athletics, with competition spaces for baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, track and field, and an indoor golf and training facility.

» Gifts. “RIT Athletics will establish the Joe and Marybeth Markiewicz Student-Athlete Well-Being Center, made possible through a $1.36 million commitment from Joe and Marybeth Markiewicz, both members of the RIT Class of 1985. Located in Clark Gymnasium, the new center will serve as the hub for RIT Athletics' student-athlete development and leadership programming.”

» Endowment. “A catalytic gift from Dr. Howard Gillis (1967) will establish the Dr. Howard Gillis (1967) Fund for DAPER to provide general support to athletics within the Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation (DAPER). In recognition of Dr. Gillis' gift, holders of the position of the Director of Athletics at MIT shall be known as the Dr. Howard Gillis (1967) Director of Athletics.”

Here is the 2025-26 NCAA Division III Annual Report.

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