Should students serve as the NCAA's police force?

The recent spotlight on sports scandals at major universities has rightfully raised issues about the future of the NCAA and its definitions of “amateurism” and “student-athlete.” Several writers—including Taylor Branch, Joe Posnanski and Michael Rosenberg—have published thoughtful pieces on the need for an overhaul of the NCAA rulebook as well as the pros and cons of paying college athletes. In addition to the debate over proper compensation for athletes, I believe there are other issues worth exploring within the context of the current set of NCAA rules.

Let’s consider the issue of what responsibility, if any, those outside of the NCAA’s jurisdiction have to bring perceived violations to light. Specifically, should a university student or employee (outside of the athletic department) feel any moral obligation to report behavior that he or she thinks runs afoul of the rules set by the NCAA?

How do Duke students balance their dedication to Blue Devil athletics with their desire to see the school run a “clean program”? If non-athletes at Duke were to witness a high-profile student-athlete committing an NCAA violation, would they bolt for Cindy Hartmann’s office (Associate Director of Athletics for Compliance) or keep quiet because they don’t want to jeopardize the career of one of their favorite Blue Devils? A similar dilemma also exists for student journalists. If you work for a school newspaper, would you be willing to break a story on major NCAA violations if it meant provoking the ire of the athletic department?

Duke students, imagine you are out to dinner with friends at a nice restaurant in Durham. Multiple Duke athletes whom you recognize sit at the table across from you. In the middle of eating your meal, you notice a man approach the table of athletes and introduce himself as a local business owner. The man professes his love for Duke sports and tells the athletes he would like to pay for their dinner. They accept his offer. Taking the fan’s cash constitutes a violation of the NCAA regulations regarding extra benefits for student-athletes. As an eyewitness, do you feel beholden to help enforce the rules of an organization that operates outside of the university you attend?

The answer to this question will vary according to your moral code, your respect—or lack thereof—for the mission of the NCAA and the magnitude of the perceived infraction. In an era where some of the biggest college sports powerhouses—Miami, Tennessee, Ohio State and North Carolina to name a few—have egregiously flouted NCAA bylaws, no doubt some students will reason, “If everyone else breaks the rules, why can’t our school do the same?” Others may choose to gossip about the violation, keeping it off the athletic department’s radar. Still others may take the initiative to notify Duke’s compliance personnel.

This discussion also hinges on the assumption that students who witness a violation understand the applicable NCAA rules and that the incident does not otherwise violate the Duke honor code or federal/state law (in which case the student would report to another entity). Non-athletes will certainly ask how they should be expected to know what behaviors constitute NCAA violations. Yet, as more scandals inevitably come to light and the media meticulously exposes the details of each indiscretion, it becomes more and more difficult for people to plead ignorance of the rules.

Finally, the quandary over the ethics of reporting violations also applies to my role as a Chronicle sports reporter. If I became aware of a major violation committed by a Duke sports team, journalistic integrity demands that I only consider breaking the story if I have multiple sources on the record confirming the veracity of the allegation. After sourcing the story properly, I would be obliged to bring the perceived violation to the athletic department’s attention and ask for comment. Ideally, I would then be free to run the story without facing any backlash from Duke Athletics.

Yet, athletic departments have little incentive to willingly expose wrongdoing. Universities with wildly popular sports teams such as Duke benefit immensely from the NCAA’s status quo. If a student journalist ever attempted to upset this multibillion-dollar relationship, I can only hope that he or she would not be ostracized for pursuing the truth.