Sandy Barbour to Discuss NIL and Student-Athletes

A pop-up course hosted by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Penn State and led by former Penn State Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Sandy Barbour will explore the NIL policy adopted by the NCAA in 2021.

Barbour, who spent more than 40 years in college athletics before retiring in July, will take a closer look at the policy adopted by the NCAA that opened opportunities for college athletes to make money from their own name, image and likeness. Barbour says it’s important for student-athletes to understand what they’re signing on to when they make an NIL deal.

“Protecting student-athletes must be the number one priority and this begins by educating them about how to protect themselves,” Barbour said in a Penn State release.

“The basic roots of the NCAA NIL policy are to give student-athletes the same opportunities other students have to leverage their name, image and likeness to earn money during their college career,” she said. “Before this policy existed, student-athletes had minimal opportunities to earn money by appearing in commercial opportunities, working with nonprofit organizations or giving lessons to youth in the community for fear they would jeopardize their eligibility in a collegiate athletic program.”

All members of the community are invited to attend the “College Athletics in the Name, Image and Likeness Era” pop-up course at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 26, in Rooms 121 G and H in the Outreach Building. You can also join online via Zoom.

Registration is $15 for OLLI at Penn State members and $30 for nonmembers. Register here to attend in person or here to attend online.