Tulane University President Scott Cowen today invited the presidents of 52 universities that are excluded from the Bowl Championship Series to join him in an aggressive effort to alter the system that governs post- season play in college football which is currently defined by the BCS Alliance.

“We need system-wide changes in intercollegiate athletics,” says Cowen. “These changes will be possible if my fellow university presidents come together to take definitive action to change the BCS and its adverse effect on Division I-A athletics.”

Noting that the BCS contract expires after the football season ends in 2005, Cowen says, “We have about 12 months to develop strategies that will allow us to make the compelling case that a system that has divided Division I-A football into two camps -- haves and have-nots -- and which essentially prevents 53 universities from competing for a national championship, should be dismantled.”

Cowen will host a teleconference on July 22 to begin the process.

“NCAA President Myles Brand has agreed to join us throughout our discussions and will try to join us for our inaugural teleconference as well,” says Cowen.

In addition to its focus on the system that governs post-season play in football, Cowen said the group will:

- request that the NCAA adopt policies and procedures that support higher academic standards and

- ask the NCAA to reconsider the appropriateness and cost implications of the Division I-A membership criteria adopted last year that will go into effect in 2004

Cowen, under whose direction Tulane University recently completed an exhaustive review of its athletics department (http://feedback.tulane.edu), said the invitation is a result of the lessons learned during that process.

“The athletics review we conducted was not only about sports and finances. It was about the proper role of intercollegiate athletics at an institution of higher learning,” he said.

After a year of study and discussion, the Board of Tulane decided June 10 to re-affirm its commitment to the continuation of intercollegiate athletics at the Division I level. In doing so the board adopted a resolution calling for the university to operate an athletics program that is a model in terms of academic performance and graduation rates, is financially viable on a sustainable basis and supports the academic mission and goals of the university.