HBCUs Struggle With Lag in Academic Progress by Student Athletes: There’s a memory burned into Walter Harrison’s brain. Harrison, the co-chair of the NCAA’s Committee on Academic Progress, recalled a 2003 meeting to hammer out details on the NCAA’s latest academic reform effort. The late Clinton Bristow Jr., then president of Alcorn State University, said something to Harrison that has stayed with him.“He looked across the table and said, ‘I hope you’re not getting into this to ensnare HBCUs,’” said Harrison, president of the University of Hartford. “I said, ‘Of course not. That’s not my intention at all.’ I have carried that pledge ever since."
