The bedrock principle of intercollegiate athletics is amateurism. The games are played by students who play for the love of the game and not for money. The principle is under attack by those who want the students to be paid as professional athletes are paid. The attack is from a number of flanks.
There is the petition by labor to organize the football players of Northwestern University into a union, which is pending before the National Labor Relations Board. That petition is based on the contention that the student-athletes who receive athletic scholarships should be regarded as employees who should have the right to bargain over their wages, hours and working conditions as employees who are paid.
