The second annual Justice Dana Kuehn Symposium on Justice and the Law placed students at the center of one of the most consequential conversations unfolding in higher education today: the future of college athletics.
With rapid policy changes reshaping NCAA Division I sports, the symposium offered University of Tulsa students, many of them current or former collegiate athletes, a rare opportunity to engage directly with a national voice guiding the discussion. For more than three decades, the work of Amy Privette Perko, CEO of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, has influenced graduation standards, gender equity reforms and NCAA governance.
Oklahoma Supreme Court Vice Chief Justice Dana Kuehn opened the event by emphasizing why student engagement matters. Conversations about justice, she noted, are most powerful when students help shape them.
Understanding a Shifting System
Perko’s keynote broke down the sweeping changes introduced by the House v. NCAA settlement, including revenue sharing, new NIL oversight, scholarship restructuring and the potential for federal legislation that could redefine amateurism. She encouraged students to view the moment not only through the lens of athletics but also through the fields of law, economics and public policy.
“We are in a moment when Congress may pass laws that fundamentally reshape college sports,” she told attendees. “Education, gender equity and opportunity must remain at the center of whatever comes next.”
Student Voices Leading the Conversation
After Perko’s remarks, UTulsa students engaged her directly with questions shaped by their own experiences in college athletics.
Bowen McCloud, a member of the Golden Hurricane’s men’s soccer team and an energy management junior, said the discussion helped him see how national policy connects to the day-to-day life of an athlete. “Her insight offered valuable clarity on how the House settlement may shape the future of men’s soccer and the broader landscape of college athletics,” he said. “It was meaningful to be part of a conversation that will influence how programs navigate these changes.”
Second-year law student and former PGA professional golfer Charlie Saxon called the session “genuinely educational,” adding, “As a former student-athlete, it was really cool to meet someone shaping national conversations on college sports.”
Interim UTulsa President Rick Dickson, who previously served as athletic director at Washington State University, Tulane University and UTulsa, praised Perko for addressing the uncertainties students feel as college sports evolve.
Kuehn closed the event by reaffirming that the symposium exists to give students a seat at the table in conversations shaping the future of law, policy and opportunity.