Founder, CEO of Athletes.org Debate Future of College Sports

While it's definitively an exciting time for college athletes, some say the new system at colleges and universities is fragile because it's all about money, unionization, and athletes moving from college to college for a better deal. Will this new way of monetization thrive, or are we about to fail our amateur athletes?

These questions and many more will be addressed at Hamilton College as an "in the know" panel will debate college sports as part of the college's Common Ground Series on Monday, September 9th, on campus.

Founder of Athletes.org (AO), Jim Cavale will join AO CEO Amy Privette Perko in a riveting debate of the future of college sports. The conversation will be moderated by Jeremy Foley who was named University of Florida’s director of athletics in 1992 and handled virtually every aspect of the university’s athletic program during his 25-year career.

The program is called, “Competing Interests: A Conversation on the Future of College Sports,” on Monday, Sept. 9, at 7:30 p.m.in the college’s Wellin Hall in Schambach Center. The program is free and open to the public. For those unable to attend, the program can be viewed at hamilton.edu/collegesportsfuture.

Jim Cavale is an Upstate New York native from Syracuse. He is the founder of Athletes.org (AO), which is the players’ association for college athletes and serves as a mechanism for college athletes to collectively negotiate their terms. He founded INFLCR, a sports tech company supporting student athletes in building their social media brands and managing their NIL payments. Jim played baseball at the University of Montevallo.

Amy Privette Perko is the chief executive officer of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, an independent leadership group whose purpose is to lead change to prioritize college athletes’ education, health, safety, and success. She has served the commission in a leadership position since 2005. During Perko’s tenure, the NCAA has adopted a number of the Knight Commission’s recommendations. The most prominent of these actions includes requiring teams to be on track to graduate 50 percent of their players to be eligible for postseason championships. Amy played basketball at Wake Forest and is a member of the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame.

Moderator Jeremy Foley retired from University of Florida (UF) in 2017 where he served as athletic director for 25 years. During his tenure, the UF athletic program ranked among the nation’s top 10 for 33 straight years according to national all-sport rankings. Foley also has ties with Upstate New York. He played football and lacrosse at Hobart and William Smith.

Common Ground is Hamilton’s widely acclaimed multi-format program designed to explore cross-boundary political thought and complex social issues. The Sept. 9 program will address some of the complex issues currently involving college athletics including:

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