We are not the only source of these questions:
An Open Letter to the Trustees and Regents of Big Ten Institutions
November 10, 2025
By Michael B. Poliakoff, President, American Council of Trustees and Alumni
To the Regents and Trustees of Big Ten Member Institutions:
Recent reports that the Big Ten Conference is moving toward a vote on a $2.4 billion private-equity transaction with UC Investments, the investment arm of the University of California system, demand your immediate attention as fiduciaries. As a fellow governing board member and as a president of a national organization whose mission is to support higher education accountability through engaged trusteeship, I have serious concerns about the process behind this proposal. These concerns have critical implications not just for college athletics, but for the integrity of American higher education writ large.
A university’s board exists to serve as the ultimate guardian of its mission, integrity, and assets. That stewardship includes oversight and final authority over all material university decisions and resources, including those related to intercollegiate athletics. Effectively selling or transferring an athletic department’s most valuable rights—its media, branding, or commercial assets—is unquestionably a material institutional decision requiring board oversight.
All governing board members, whether they are called trustees, regents or visitors, have a responsibility to ensure that America’s institutions act in the best interests of all stakeholders, especially the public. And yet there is a credible claim that governing boards have received insufficient information to make any such determination with respect to the Big Ten Enterprises proposal. This would be a shocking lack of transparency given the stakes of this transaction.
This is not how responsible governance functions. Boards cannot discharge their fiduciary duties without having access to the full text of any proposed agreement, sufficient time to study its implications, and a formal role in authorizing or declining their institution’s participation before a binding vote is cast.
By bypassing their governing boards, the Big Ten universities risk undermining the legitimacy of any decision and eroding confidence in their leadership.
To restore integrity to this process, we urge each governing board to adopt a clear resolution requiring that:
- The university president or chancellor abstain from any Big Ten vote on the proposed transaction until his or her governing board has been fully briefed;
- The board is provided with all relevant documents, analyses, and legal opinions; and
- The board has formally authorized the president or chancellor to vote on behalf of the institution.
Furthermore, the Big Ten’s governance structure should be amended to ensure that boards of trustees and regents are not merely informed but serve as the ultimate authorities on any future decision involving the sale, transfer, or monetization of university-owned athletic assets.
The universities of the Big Ten have earned global respect for their commitment to integrity, excellence, and public trust. That trust now rests on whether their governing boards will insist upon proper oversight in a moment of historic consequence.
As stewards of these great institutions, trustees and regents must not permit others to act on their behalf without clear authorization. The process must change so that the boards, and only the boards, hold final authority over this matter.
Respectfully,
Michael B. Poliakoff
President, ACTA
Source: https://www.goacta.org/2025/11/an-open-letter-to-the-trustees-and-regents-of-big-ten-institutions/.
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*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2025/11/athletic-investments-part-3.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2025/10/athletic-investments-part-2.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2025/10/athletic-investments.html.
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Further background:
From Yahoo Sports: Big Ten executives are socializing a plan with member schools to move forward with their capital investment proposal — even without Michigan and USC. The league has signaled to schools that it may hold a vote in two weeks to potentially adopt a 20-year, $2.4 billion deal with a California pension fund and extend the conference grant of rights an additional 10 years in what would be an unprecedented decision from a major conference — striking a membership extension without all of its current schools. The move for a vote, supported and encouraged by many university administrators at 16 Big Ten schools, threatens to drive a schism within the league — between those supportive universities and the Wolverines and Trojans, who are not in support of the measure.
Several university administrators, board members and industry executives spoke to Yahoo Sports under condition of anonymity about the Big Ten’s latest proposal in partnering with an investment fund of the University of California pension system called UC Investments. In messages sent to Michigan and USC, the Big Ten has signaled that it is moving forward with the deal, even delivering to each program a proposed deadline for their decision. If they don’t agree to the deal, the schools may lose the additional capital as part of the landmark proposal and risk their future within the conference beyond 2036, the current end of the existing grant-of-rights agreement. League officials are socializing a specific date — Nov. 21 — for a vote on the capital investment proposal.
Administrators and board members at both Michigan and USC were informed earlier this week that, if a 16-school agreement is reached, the two programs would be granted a grace period — three to six months — to agree to join the deal if they wish to reap the full financial benefits. That period is only a proposal for now...
In public comments made last month, University of Michigan trustees described the deal as a “payday loan” and called it an unnecessary step and a “bail out” for those Big Ten schools that have mismanaged their finances. While those at USC have kept their feelings more private, Trojans athletic director Jen Cohen and her university board members hold reservations about an agreement that, for one, would distribute more revenue to league members Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State than all other schools...
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