Release

UAlbany President Kermit L. Hall Named to NCAA Task Force on the Future of Division I Intercollegiate Athletics

Contact: Catherine Herman (518) 437-4980

ALBANY, N.Y. (June 30, 2005) -- The NCAA has named University at Albany President Kermit L. Hall to a new presidential task force that will study the future of college sports.

"This is an important effort to discuss and address the next steps in shaping the future of intercollegiate athletics," NCAA President Myles Brand said. "The leadership of presidents and chancellors is critical in this effort."

"College athletics done well is a tremendous asset and service to our student-athletes, university community, alumni, and sports in general," President Hall said. "I'm honored to join my colleagues in helping to chart the next level of intercollegiate play."

Brand first unveiled plans to create a presidential task force during the 2005 NCAA Convention in January in Grapevine, Texas. The task force will conduct its work through four subcommittees: Implications of Academic Values and Standards, Fiscal Responsibility, Student-Athlete Well-Being, and Presidential Leadership of Internal and External Constituencies, the subcommittee on which Hall will serve with 11 other college presidents from such diverse institutions as Southern Methodist University, Kent State University, Franklin Pierce College, and Pennsylvania State University. The entire task force is chaired by Peter Likins, president of the University of Arizona.

The presidential task force held its first meeting June 9-10, 2005, in Tucson, Arizona, to develop a list of what it deems the most pressing problems facing intercollegiate athletics.