NCAA selects Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker as its next president

The NCAA announced on its website the selection of Governor Charlie Baker for the NCAA’s President’s post succeeding Mark Allen Emmert who will remain in an advisory role until June. For selecting the President of the NCAA, a subcommittee of the NCAA Board of Governors and TurnkeyZRG carried out an inclusive and thorough search ever since Emmert announced in April that he would step down.

NCAA zeroed upon Baker for the post because of his strong credentials in politics and policy. Also because the NCAA has been through various high-profile legal challenges in the last few years.

Chair of the NCAA Board and Baylor University President, Linda Livingstone commented particularly on Baker's successful record of forging bipartisan solutions to complex problems which greatly appealed to and convinced the search committee. She added that Baker’s sports background will also be instrumental in building a sustainable model for the future of college athletics.


Baker expressed his joy on the announcement ‘The NCAA is confronting complex and significant challenges, but I am excited to get to work as the awesome opportunity college athletics provides to so many students is more than worth the challenge.’ He also ensured that he would work on continuing the tradition of holding athletic competitions in the coming times too.



The Massachusetts Governor also promised to work together with the NCAA members and student-athletes to modernize college sports to meet present-day needs while retaining its core value. Baker would end his term as Massachusetts Governor on 5th January 2023.

FAQs:

1. What is the NCAA?
   For the unversed, it’s a nonprofit organization headquartered in Indiana that regulates student athletics in about 1,100 schools in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. The organization also organizes athletic programs in colleges and universities in Canada and the US which helps over 500,000 college student-athletes who compete annually in college sports.
2. Was Baker also into athletics?
   Yes, Baker has been a former student-athlete and is committed to student-athletes and wants to enhance their collegiate experience.