Illinois State Interim AD reacts to Dartmouth men’s basketball forming a union

Posted on March 6, 2024
Dr. Jeri Beggs spoke with WJBC’s Scott Miller. (Photo courtesy Illinois State University)

By Blake Haas

BLOOMINGTON – Dartmouth Men’s basketball became the first college team in U.S. sports history to form a union.

On Tuesday evening, 15 student-athletes voted to join the SEIU Local 560 union.

For Illinois State University, the move, if deemed legal, could hinder the future of many athletic programs.
“Bottom line for me is just the expense of it,” ISU Interim Director of Athletics Dr. Jeri Beggs told WJBC’s Scott Miller. “We have 450 student-athletes. Some simple math would tell you that paying them 20 hours a week for 16 weeks a semester is really going to seriously add up to a lot of money.

I worry that overall, what (is) going to end up happening is that some student-athletes will be paid, and we will lose a lot of sports.”

If deemed legal, student-athletes would be considered employees, forcing Universities to pay for health care and other benefits.

“(If deemed legal), some sports will go away. We won’t be able to afford some of our Olympic sports because of the cost of paying student-athletes,” added Dr. Beggs.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].

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