CHAPEL HILL – Hunter Rawlings, the president of the Association of the American Universities, will lead a panel of experts on student athletics and higher education Friday.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany will be a panelist. UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp, UNC director of athletics Bubba Cunnigham, and ESPN broadcaster Jay Bilas are slated to speak.
The panel will meet from 1 to 3 p.m., with a change of venues to Lecture Hall G202 in Murray Hall . The original location for the event was the Carolina Inn.
The university is asking the panel to make recommendations about the role of athletics in the life of a university, taking into account the recent challenges the university has faced. The panel will cover the NCAA, presidential control, amateurism, the current context of the model for college athletics, and the role of faculty.
The idea of the panel originated in 2012, commissioned by UNC’s Faculty Executive Committee.
It’s up to the panel to decide how to proceed after the first meeting. Thorp says there’s the option to produce a report of what they’ve discussed or the panel could choose to meet again.
Panel chair Rawlings is the president of the Association of American Universities, which represents 62 leading research universities including Carolina. A former university president and successful collegiate student-athlete, Rawlings spoke at UNC in 2012 about the future of research universities.
Following remarks by the panel and presenters—students, faculty and staff will also have an opportunity to share public comments for the panel’s consideration.
Joining Rawlings on the panel:
– James Delany, longtime commissioner of the Big Ten Conference and a former NCAA enforcement officer. He holds bachelor’s and law degrees from Carolina, where he was a tri-captain on the men’s basketball team.
– Bob Malekoff, associate professor and sport studies chair at Guilford College and a former athletics director and head coach. He has written about athletics and sports management at the collegiate and professional levels.
– Amy Perko, executive director of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, and previously an NCAA employee and athletics administrator at the University of Kansas. She earned academic honors as a Wake Forest student-athlete.
– Patricia Timmons-Goodson, former associate justice of the N.C. Supreme Court who holds two UNC-Chapel Hill degrees and served on the N.C. Court of Appeals. She serves on Guilford College’s Board of Trustees.
Joining Thorp are five other invited speakers. They are, in the order, of their appearances:
– Bubba Cunningham, UNC director of athletics;
Thorp, who leaves UNC as chancellor in June to become provost for Washington University in St. Louis.
– Jay Bilas, ESPN broadcaster, attorney and a former Duke basketball player.
– Richard Southall, UNC associate professor of sport administration and director of the College Sport Research Institute.
– Jay Smith, UNC professor of history.
– Joy Renner, UNC Faculty Athletics Committee Chair and clinical associate professor of allied health sciences.