N ationally and locally, an awakening is slowly taking place to the unbalanced relationship between universities involved in big-time athletics and the athletes who make the industry work.
In August, a judge opened the door for the payment of athletes in the case of O’Bannon v. NCAA.
And at home, the State Employees Association of North Carolina has invited scholarship athletes to join the organization.
But so far, no athletes in the UNC system have elected to sign up. To take a first step to combat the injustices inherent in the NCAA’s model, and to empower themselves with a political voice, we suggest that athletes at UNC accept the SEANC’s invitation.
Athletes who join the SEANC would immediately be given a voice in an organization that employs professional lobbyists and has expressed interest in representing athletes’ interests. As things are, almost all power in the relationship lies with the NCAA and its member schools.
Joining the SEANC would not alter this essential dynamic for athletes, but it would give them an avenue to voice their concerns outside of structures set up by the NCAA and universities, which have a vested interest in preserving the status quo.
Athletes can take an important first step to empowering themselves to tackle some of the fundamental injustices of college athletics in a way the NCAA and its member universities have been reluctant to pursue.
