The Cinderella Effect
CURRENTS Article This article examines the effect a school's athletic success has on the institution's advancement efforts.

What Winter Doldrums?
CURRENTS Article Franklin Pierce University finds a sporting way to keep students busy during the long, cold winter.

Talking Points: The Real Costs of College Sports
CURRENTS Article Expenses for college athletics are rising three to four times as quickly as overall educational costs. The co-chairmen of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics discuss the current imbalance and provide recommendations for how institutions can ensure that athletics operate within the institution's educational mission.

A Sporting Chance
CURRENTS Article The college athletics system needs reform, says Vanderbilt University’s chancellor, beginning with reconnecting athletics and institution mission. Building on recent reforms at Vanderbilt, Gordon Gee identifies five steps for improvement, from connecting graduation rates and conference revenue to requiring all students to meet basic academic requirements.

Outlook: Sports for All
CURRENTS Article The author, a former college and professional basketball player and an expert on athletics, makes the case that the U.S. system of sports is elitist and does not serve the health interests of society as a whole.

Odds and Ends: Awesome, Baby!
CURRENTS Article In a quick Q&A interview, Dick Vitale, ESPN's voice of college basketball, talks about his beginnings in education, his passion for the game, and his devotion to philanthropy.

Good Sports
CURRENTS Article The reputations of intercollegiate athletics and education institutions have been marred by destructive sports spectators who dismantle goal posts, damage fields, and riot in community streets. Some campuses, alumni associations, and athletics conferences have banded together to clean up intercollegiate athletics’ act.

Team Spirit
CURRENTS Article Ignoring the inherent relationship between athletics and communications offices is a mistake. This article (a sidebar to "A Delicate Balance: Athletics and Campus Identity") offers strategies for managing messages in different reporting structures.

A Delicate Balance: Athletics and Campus Identity
CURRENTS Article Intercollegiate athletics presents both opportunities and pitfalls for college and university communicators. Recent controversies are forcing communicators and administrators to take a close look at the complexities and the impact of athletics on their campuses to determine the best way to manage institution messages.

Talking Points: The Ball Is in Play
CURRENTS Article This Talking Points column reviews Title IX, the landmark legislation mandating equitable treatment of men and women at American educational institutions that receive federal funds. The article summarizes the original mandate and its effect on college sports, efforts from 1995 to strengthen enforcement and from 2002 to ameliorate Title IX’s effects on men’s teams, and areas of ongoing controversy and how advancement can respond. This column is of interest to managers of alumni, development, and communications programs and chief advancement officers.