Knight Foundation. Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics

The Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics (Knight Commission) was established in 1989 with the purpose of drafting a reform agenda for the administration of intercollegiate sports. The Commission was dissolved in February 1996.

From the description of Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics records, 1989-2007. WorldCat record id: 31908810

In 1989, the Knight Foundation issued the following statement of purpose for the Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics (Knight Commission):

The Knight Foundation has established this Commission because it believes that excesses in intercollegiate athletics are seriously eroding the integrity of colleges and universities and distorting the basic purposes for which these institutions were chartered. The Foundation also believes there is an important place for a properly-administered program of intercollegiate athletics in American institutions of higher learning. Indeed, competitive sports have long been an integral part of campus life. Regrettably, however, recent surveys show that a majority of citizens believe that flagrant rules violations, greed, fraud, and hypocrisy now pervade intercollegiate sports. These surveys also reflect widespread public doubt that the universities and colleges can or indeed will take forceful action on their own to eradicate these distressing conditions. These conditions can no longer remain unchallenged; we believe they can and must be eliminated. Clearly, trustees, presidents and chancellors, faculty, students, alumni, and sports fans generally must collectively gather the will to correct the problem before the intercollegiate sports programs we cherish and the institutions we respect and love are irreparably damaged. The Knight Foundation, through this Commission, commits itself to help restore institutional integrity and renew the well-being of intercollegiate sports as a wholesome part of the academic community.

From the guide to the Knight Foundation. Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics Records, 1989-2007, 2013, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)