President Trump’s executive order of July 24th targeting college athletes’ NIL rights, depending on the yet to be determined specifics, will play heavily into the future of higher education, amateurism, and the civic role of sports in America.
The White House described the order as a response to an “out-of-control, rudderless system” and emphasized the need to “restore order” and preserve the educational and developmental benefits of college athletics
Framed as an effort to “restore integrity,” the order bans third-party pay-for-play inducements and directs federal agencies to clarify employment status and preserve non-revenue sports.
It’s a sweeping, symbolic, and steeped in cultural signaling, but it also sidesteps the core question:
What do we owe student-athletes, not just as economic actors, but as students, citizens, and future leaders?
College athletics today is a mass of contradictions.
Universities earn in billions while athletes juggle demanding schedules, limited academic protections, and, in recent years, the uncertain terrain of NIL deals.
Everyone agrees the present system is a mess, and many sports fans hope the Trump executive order adds some clarity. The current system is a mix of celebratory NIL stories, a transfer market resembling free agency, uneven access to legal counsel, and diminishing space for women’s and Olympic sports.
Trump’s order could lead to greater fairness, but depending on the specifics, it risks entrenching power imbalances. Provisions demanding scholarship maintenance could shield non-revenue sports. However, without clarity on enforcement, they may amount to little more than politics. For example, the directive to labor agencies hints at preserving amateurism does nothing to address systemic exploitation or the reality that some athletes are, functionally, full-time employees.
Congress is also entering the fray with several proposals that are a tug-of-war between bills that empower athletes and those that seek to preserve the traditional collegiate model. Some proposals aim to shield schools and the NCAA from lawsuits, while others push for unionization and collective bargaining rights. For example, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee recently advanced the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act that aims to
- Codify student-athletes’ rights to earn from their NIL
- Override the patchwork of state laws
- Prohibit pay-for-play and predatory compensation schemes
- Allow athletes to hire agents and receive financial literacy support
The Senate is taking a different approach with proposals by Sen. Chris Murphy, Sen.. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, who recently reintroduced the College Athlete Right to Organize Act. Additionally, Murphy revived the College Athlete Economic Freedom Act, which:
- Establishes federal NIL rights
- Protects international students’ visa status while engaging in NIL
- Prohibits discrimination in NIL facilitation
- Encourages revenue-sharing negotiations
The executive order and proposed Congressional actions, if ever passed, may be a great first step, but what is truly needed is a civic reckoning of what college sports can be.
Collegiate sports must evolve into a model that fosters not just performance, but participation. We need a system that treats athletes as multidimensional citizens and gives equal weight to education, equity, and empowerment. That means federal policy informed by athlete voices. It means transparency in NIL markets. And it means investing in youth leadership programs that prepare athletes for life beyond the locker room.
College sports can be a pipeline for national pride, but more profoundly, they can be a training ground for democratic engagement, civic accountability, and systemic change.
One promising blueprint comes from the Engaged Athlete Fellowship (EAF), an initiative that flips the NIL narrative from transactional to transformational. Developed by esteemed professors, coaches, professional athletes, and civic leaders, EAF offers a yearlong leadership curriculum grounded in purpose and impact. Fellows receive mentorship, support, and a financial stipend to design and execute a personalized civic engagement or service project, whether that’s increasing voter turnout on campus, organizing mental health resources for teammates, or advocating for underserved communities.
At the heart of the program is a multi-day, all-expenses-paid summit in Washington, D.C., where Fellows gather to share their projects, network with changemakers, and participate in workshops that connect athletics to activism. It’s not just leadership training—it’s a declaration that student-athletes are more than performers; they’re architects of social change.
That ethos is driven by Coach Joe Kennedy, a former Northwestern basketball player and White House public engagement aide, Chairman of The Team. In partnership with Coach Eric Reveno, Professor/Futurists Lisa Kay Solomon and others, Kennedy has led a civic movement to empower athletes as voters, advocates, and campus leaders, engaging millions nationwide.
“More than 500,000 student athletes are largely overlooked by most traditional civics programs,” Kennedy notes. “Yet these athletes are often some of the most powerful voices and influential leaders on their campuses.”
The Engaged Athlete Fellowship isn’t just a policy suggestion, it's an invitation. An invitation for athletic departments, civic organizations, and federal policymakers to rethink what it means to support student-athletes not merely by regulating what they can earn, but by investing in what they can build.
This executive order may be a start, but it’s not a solution. Until we center athletes' humanity alongside their marketability, the chaos will persist.
David Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
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