On Wednesday, it was announced by the NCAA that student-athletes had Election Day on Nov. 3 off in order to vote. This has been a part of a bigger movement within sports to raise social awareness and support voter turnout as a response to the Black Lives Matter movement. The statement said, “Division I student-athletes will not practice and compete, among other countable athletically related activities, on the first Tuesday after Nov. 1 every year, including the upcoming Election Day on Nov. 3.”
While the NCAA has a long way to go to stop being completely horrible to the athletes that it governs, this is a positive step forward to see social pressure and other forces making the NCAA change their policies. The council that voted on this measure also released a statement saying, “The Council unanimously supports this important piece of legislation. Coming from Division I SAAC, we know it represents the voice of student-athletes across the country who continue to express a desire to increase their civic engagement at local, state and federal levels,” said Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, athletics director at Pennsylvania. “We look forward to seeing student-athletes use this opportunity as a way to create positive change.”
