Athletics Update to the Davidson College Community

Dear Wildcats,

The landscape of intercollegiate athletics is changing rapidly, and I want to share with you how Davidson College is proactively adapting in order to succeed.

Recently, a federal court issued preliminary approval of a settlement in the five-year-old class action lawsuit over compensating college athletes for endorsements and media appearances, such as broadcast rights. A final decision is scheduled for April 7. Once finalized, this landmark agreement – known as "the House settlement" – will reshape intercollegiate athletics, including the following key changes:

Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) payments (also referred to as "revenue sharing") for scholar-athletes: Institutions will be permitted to directly compensate scholar-athletes through NIL licensing agreements up to an annual cap of $20.5 million per institution. Previously, scholar-athletes could only receive scholarships and be compensated for NIL agreements supported by external entities.
Roster and Scholarship Adjustments: New NCAA roster limits will set a cap on the number of scholar-athletes eligible for each team, and scholarship limits will mirror roster limits.
NIL Back Pay for Eligible Athletes: The NCAA, and all Division I (DI) member institutions, including Davidson, must pay roughly $3 billion in damages as back pay to current and former scholar-athletes for lost NIL earnings. All DI scholar-athletes who participated in collegiate sports between the 2016-17 and 2024-25 academic years (2019-20 through 2024-25 for Davidson) are eligible for backpay for NIL earnings. (Davidson's timeline differs because, like all non-Power 4 conference institutions, we were not named defendants in the original lawsuit.)

These changes mark a transformational shift within intercollegiate athletics. To be sure, many components of the proposed settlement are not ones that Davidson would have chosen, and along with other members of the Atlantic 10 (A-10) Conference, we have expressed our concerns. The settlement places an unfair financial burden on institutions that were not the primary target of the lawsuit and creates an unequal payout from the settlement for scholar-athletes. Additionally, the future model of intercollegiate athletics nationally focuses less on the importance of academic excellence and support, a key component of our mission. The big question is - can we embrace the future while staying grounded in our core values?

The mission for Davidson Athletics is simple - Athletics Done Right. It means we compete at the highest level athletically while compromising nothing academically. Our students are true scholar-athletes. Our coaches and administrators are educators. We have a distinct advantage, especially among Davidson's peers in higher education, because we participate at the D1 level. We foster incredible scholar-athlete experiences while building sustainable, championship-level competitive teams. We embrace a bold but attainable directive to become one of the best athletic programs in the country, as a core element of being one of the best colleges in the country.

Davidson College is a unicorn. There is no institution in the nation quite like us. Athletics is and has been a differentiator for Davidson College. We are the top-ranked DI liberal arts college (outside of the military service academies) in U.S. News & World Report. Our average scholar-athlete GPA is over 3.5 (with no team under a 3.2). While the graduation success rate for all Davidson students is 92%, the comparable graduation rate for our scholar-athletes sits three points higher, at 95%. And since making the leap in 2014 to the A-10 as our primary conference, our programs have raised the standard, won championships and helped enhance the brand of Davidson College.

There is often opportunity amid the chaos, and here is how we plan to navigate the future.

First, we will seek to build a sustainable, championship-level, competitive framework for basketball. Davidson College will opt into the settlement and share revenue across our men's and women's basketball programs. We will raise funds to create an endowment that supports a portion of scholar-athlete NIL compensation for basketball. We understand that this is a cultural shift, but we will step into this space without neglecting our unwavering commitment to academics, leadership, service and integrity. The A-10 is a basketball-centric league, and basketball has long been our flagship sport. When our basketball programs are successful, it provides much-needed revenue and exposure that supports all our athletics programs and raises the overall visibility of the college.

Second, as other institutions cut back on resources for teams other than football and basketball, we will push for and solicit increased investment in endowed scholarships and direct team support across Davidson Athletics. Our sports have achieved great success in recent years, including numerous conference championships and NCAA qualifiers, underscoring our ability not just to compete but to win at this level. Additionally, we believe strongly in our commitment to Title IX and growing support and resources for our women's programs. The Curry Family Women's Athletics Initiative and the Falconi Family Women's Athletic Scholarship and Internship Fund are recent testaments to this commitment.

Third, we will make this commitment to our men's and women's basketball by securing new resources for this purpose. We will not cut academic, student life or other athletics programs in order to fund this basketball initiative. This will require support from those who believe strongly in the ways basketball has been and will continue to be an integral part of Davidson College.

It's reasonable to ask why we would compensate scholar-athletes with NIL payments rather than consider a less competitive conference or level. Here are some of the reasons:

A move backwards or to a lesser conference would impact more than just basketball - it would diminish the competitive experience for every scholar-athlete on campus. From a financial perspective, it would reduce ticket revenue, corporate and multimedia rights, and donations, all of which positively impact athletics and the scholar-athlete experience as a whole.
The A-10 competes in seven of the top 30 media markets in the country, providing invaluable awareness for Davidson Athletics and Davidson College.
Lower tier conferences could have less access to NCAA championships in the future as more powerful conferences look to change the governance model of the NCAA.
Davidson scholar-athletes now have the ability to earn compensation through their name, image, and likeness, no different from an amazing student musician who performs with the Charlotte Symphony, a talented student comedian who performs a set at a local comedy club or an enterprising student who starts their own business out of the Jay Hurt Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Davidson still has to recruit great scholar-athletes who value high-level academics and a top-notch liberal arts experience in a residential environment - the compensation model allows us not only to recruit them but to retain and thus to educate them.

This takes us back to the question outlined above: Can we embrace the future while staying grounded in our core values? Yes - because of the people. That is, it is because we have:

Scholar-athletes who choose Davidson to get an unparalleled education and compete at the highest level.
Coaches who remain focused on providing a great scholar-athlete experience while building sustainable, championship-level competitive programs.
Administrators who are dedicated to supporting scholar-athletes holistically, telling their stories and helping them compete in fantastic venues.
Faculty who hold scholar-athletes accountable while helping them achieve the incredibly rigorous academic and athletic balance required for success.
Alums, families and fans who invest in our programs and serve as the backbone of the athletics community.

Davidson College has always been grounded but bold. There is uncertainty ahead but also excitement. Consistency but also evolution. Chaos but also opportunity. We are going to move forward but move forward our way. The Davidson way.

Go 'Cats!

ClunieSignature

Chris Clunie '06
Vice President & Director of Athletics

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