NCAA Board of Governors revises penalties for campus sexual violence attestation
The NCAA Board of Governors recently revised the penalty structure around the attestation requirement of the NCAA policy on campus sexual violence.
Established in August 2017, the policy includes six key requirements that schools must annually attest that they have met in the previous academic year. For schools that fail to submit an attestation form or do so after the deadline, the new penalty structure includes the following:
• A school that does not submit the attestation form will be fined $5,000, which will be distributed to a philanthropic organization identified by each division whose efforts focus on campus sexual violence prevention. The school will also be listed on the NCAA website after the board's annual review.
• The revised policy also authorizes NCAA national office staff to automatically grant an extension of 10 calendar days from the original deadline to any school that requests one before the deadline. If a school meets the revised deadline, no penalty will be imposed.
• A school that submits the attestation form after the deadline or its extended deadline will be listed on the NCAA website as late. For schools that miss the attestation deadline in multiple years, the penalties of a fine and being listed on the NCAA website as not attesting will be applied.
In the previous penalty structure, schools that failed to attest were prohibited from hosting NCAA championships in the next academic year, as well as listed on the NCAA's website.
"This policy change shifts the impact of penalties away from the student-athletes and will impact schools more equally, as not all schools host an NCAA championship," said Linda A. Livingstone, president at Baylor and chair of the Board of Governors. "We also understand the need for flexibility. Providing schools an automatic extension if they identify the need for more time before the deadline is an appropriate compromise."
Women's wrestling
The board approved $1.7 million in Association-wide funding — $200,000 in fiscal year 2025 and $1.5 million in fiscal year 2026 — for establishing a National Collegiate women's wrestling championship, with the first championship occurring in the 2025-26 academic year.
In February, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics voted to recommend that Divisions I, II and III sponsor legislation to add a women's wrestling championship. The divisions are expected to vote on the proposals during the 2025 NCAA Convention planned for Jan. 15-18 in Nashville, Tenn.
Transgender student-athlete participation
The Board of Governors discussed transgender student-athlete participation. The current policy remains under review. College sports are the premier stage for women's sports in America and the NCAA will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women's sports and ensure fair competition for all student-athletes in all NCAA championships.
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