Conference Achieves Knight Commission C.A.R.E. Champion Distinction; What It Means

The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics has announced the Big Sky Conference as an inaugural C.A.R.E. Champion following the league’s adoption and implementation of all requirements to receive the distinction. A C.A.R.E. Champion Connects Athletics Revenues with the Educational mission of college sports “by prioritizing college athletes’ education, health, safety, well-being, equity, and opportunity in financial incentives and athletics spending.”

The Big Sky Conference joins the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and The Southern Conference as inaugural C.A.R.E. Champions.

“On behalf of our membership, the Big Sky Conference is proud to receive this distinction for adopting and implementing the Knight Commission’s C.A.R.E. Model principles,” said Commissioner Tom Wistrcill. “This is a tremendous milestone for our league and its 12 member institutions as we remain deeply committed to supporting approximately 3,200 student-athletes each year in their academic and athletic endeavors. Our slogan, Experience Elevated, is not just a hashtag – and the C.A.R.E. Model is yet another way for us to demonstrate how we continue to align our actions with our mission and values.”

Knight Commission Co-Chair Pamela Bernard said, “Earning the C.A.R.E. Champion designation demonstrates the priority the Big Sky places on college athletes’ education, gender equity, and opportunity. We congratulate the Big Sky Conference for its leadership.”

The C.A.R.E. Model (Connecting Athletics Revenues with the Educational Model of College Sports) was developed by the Knight Commission to assist conferences and national entities in bolstering accountability and to ensure that both the distribution and spending of shared athletics revenue prioritize college athletes’ education, health, safety, well-being, equity, and opportunity. This holistic model supports the educational mission of college sports and includes four principles and requirements:

• Transparency
• Independent Oversight
• Incentives for Core Values of Education, Gender Equity, and Opportunity
• Financial Responsibility for Education, Health, Safety, and Well-Being

As C.A.R.E. Champions, the Big Sky Conference, MAAC, and The Southern Conference are among a select group of Division I conferences committed to gender equity in the distribution of shared athletics revenue. The criteria require that any conference awarding financial incentives for athletics success must do so equally for its men’s and women’s teams. These three C.A.R.E. Champion Conferences reward women’s basketball team success in March Madness at a dollar level equal to that of their men’s teams.

Knight Commission Co-Chair Len Elmore said, “We congratulate The Big Sky Conference and the other inaugural C.A.R.E. Champions, the MAAC and The Southern Conference, as leaders among Division I conferences for creating equity in their athletics performance incentive policies. These commitments demonstrate that these conferences value the success of their women’s teams just as much as their men’s.”

As a C.A.R.E. Champion Conference, the Big Sky will receive a $25,000 grant from the Knight Commission to implement the C.A.R.E. Model principles and educate institutional leaders, staff, college athletes, and other stakeholders about how this new framework positively impacts college athletes’ experiences.