Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker Selected To Be The Next NCAA President
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker selected as the next NCAA president.
Baker will conclude his second term as Gov. in January and begin his new post March 1. He has no previous collegiate administrative experience. He has spent most of his career in Massachusetts state government but spent a decade in health care administration.
Baker attended Harvard and graduated in 1979 with a BA in English, where, by his own admission, he was a C-student-turned-B-student. He later said he went to Harvard "because of the brand" and wrote, "With a few exceptions... those four years are ones I would rather forget". While at Harvard, Baker played on the JV basketball team. He then attended Northwestern where he received an MBA.
December 15th, 2022 at 12:31 PM ^
Perfect.
December 15th, 2022 at 12:32 PM ^
No politicians.
December 15th, 2022 at 12:34 PM ^
Congrats to [redacted political statement since there's probably a rule against talking about that directly on here or something] on landing one of the cushiest do-nothing-and-stuff-your-pockets gigs in existence
December 15th, 2022 at 12:36 PM ^
Someone leading the NCAA who has successful experience leading a large organization?
That sounds good to me. And that's not sarcasm.
December 15th, 2022 at 7:39 PM ^
There’s still an NCAA??? Go figure.
December 15th, 2022 at 12:36 PM ^
Easy money. All he has to do is keep an eye on Michigan.
December 15th, 2022 at 12:40 PM ^
More like Taxachusetts, Am I right?
December 15th, 2022 at 2:16 PM ^
Actually no. The nickname is a misnomer and the state tax burden is very middling compared to other states.
December 15th, 2022 at 2:35 PM ^
You gotta be kidding? Let me guess, you voted Yes on Prop 1? Why are more moving out? Not just because of the crummy weather.
December 15th, 2022 at 2:39 PM ^
According to Tax Foundation, they rank 37 of 50 on tax burden. So, I wouldn’t consider it middling, but not extreme either.
December 15th, 2022 at 7:45 PM ^
O I sure did, me and 1.2 million of my friends. Honestly one of the more enthusiastic votes I've ever cast.
Also the state population continues to grow. But if there's a reason people are moving elsewhere, it's because the state hasn't built nearly enough housing and rent/mortgages are way too high.
December 15th, 2022 at 10:34 PM ^
Geez , Its a famous Simpsons reference
December 15th, 2022 at 3:02 PM ^
At least with respect to the bar exam, they call it Passachusetts...
December 15th, 2022 at 4:24 PM ^
When I passed the Massachusetts Bar exam on my first attempt nearly 50 years ago, it was in the early years of the Multi-State Bar exam and the pass rate wasn’t as high then as it is now. I gave all the credit to Jim Smith, Walter McLaughlin, Jr. and Fred Hart, the three law school professors who ran the excellent SMH Bar Review course. I still might have one of my course books.
Ever since then, I’ve advised incoming, first-year law students to find someone who’ll sell them bar review course books before they start their 1L classes and to study them, AND, if they can afford the costs, to take a law-school preview course.
December 15th, 2022 at 12:42 PM ^
With the disclaimer that any NCAA president is by definition an empty suit puppet for the most corrupt, amoral, and deliberately ineffectual athletic organization not named FIFA, Charlie Baker is a two-term governor who got elected twice in Massachusetts as a Republican, so he's gotta have some skills as a consensus builder.
December 15th, 2022 at 12:59 PM ^
The IOC would like a word with you for being left off the "corrupt, amoral, and deliberately ineffectual athletic organization" list.
December 15th, 2022 at 1:22 PM ^
*scans for lies*
None detected
December 15th, 2022 at 2:43 PM ^
FIFA, here. What’s up, friends.
December 15th, 2022 at 12:59 PM ^
Kehn, respectfully - the NCAA gives FIFA a run for their money.
December 15th, 2022 at 1:04 PM ^
Was Mitt Romney not available?
December 15th, 2022 at 1:36 PM ^
Trust - I have a lot of respect for Mitt Romney. People have their own definitions and evaluations - but, my perspective is that Romney has always been "direct and true to himself" in his life - actions, business, government, etc.
Candidly, the NCAA is such a mess - as were the Salt Lake City Olympics before he assumed responsibility - that, perhaps - he could actually make a significant difference and get the NCAA back on the right track.
December 15th, 2022 at 2:36 PM ^
Charlie Baker is about as Republican as Rachel Dolezal is African-American.
December 15th, 2022 at 6:26 PM ^
Actually, he's an old school Republican, which was/is quite functional in Massachussetts. In another era, he would probably be labeled a Blue Dog Democrat.
December 16th, 2022 at 11:17 AM ^
Hey she never claimed to be black. You assumed it.
December 15th, 2022 at 12:43 PM ^
Seems like a great hire. Baker has consistently been the most liked governor in the country with over a 70% approval rating. And that's as a Republican in a blue state. I'm not getting in the politics of anything, but I think he is clearly a smart, well-liked guy with extensive public and private sector experience who can build consensus amongst opposing groups.
December 15th, 2022 at 1:54 PM ^
This is right. He did a nice job as governor and responded to public demands very well. The best governors in my opinion are the ones you don't have to worry about. He was 100% that.
He's about as charismatic as a damp cloth, but he was good at managing a state.
December 15th, 2022 at 3:40 PM ^
I've only been living in MA for a handful of years but my general sense talking to my in-laws (who have lived her for decades) and other long-term residents is that most MA governors are reasonably popular because it's a state that has one massive population center (the metro Boston area is nearly 5M people out of a state population of 6.8M) and so if you keep that region largely happy/stay out of the way you'll be fine.
Baker seems fine as an NCAA admin but I have my doubts he'll do anything other than be a steward of the status quo that Emmert has largely been doing as well.
December 15th, 2022 at 12:45 PM ^
He was a C student, but he was a C student at Harvard. This means he is a mediocre thinker but knows how to mingle with the wealthy and privileged. He sounds PERFECT for the NCAA...
December 15th, 2022 at 2:00 PM ^
College grade point averages have very little to do with your intelligence, ability, and/or critical thinking skills.
December 15th, 2022 at 2:48 PM ^
I disagree with this. GPA is typically a good indicator of many of those things. That said, there are ALWAYS exceptions to the rules. The problem is when we hold up those exceptions and say, “see, I told you this rule is stupid.”
December 15th, 2022 at 2:57 PM ^
Nah. GPA is only a reflection of what you did in those moments, in those classes. They don't speak to a greater whole. Brilliant college kids get shit grades because they don't care about school, are prioritizing other things in life, because they're trying things out that they've never done before, or following passions they THOUGHT they had that may be waning.
There are hundreds of reasons kids do poorly in college classes. Grades are a surface-level technicality that tell nowhere near the whole story.
This is also why, after your first job out of school, almost no employers ask what your GPA was in college.
December 15th, 2022 at 3:29 PM ^
Most brilliant college kids get excellent grades.
December 15th, 2022 at 3:38 PM ^
I doubt this very much. I also think it's important to remember that colleges often inflate grades as well, so good grades don't actually MEAN a student did well in the class.
College grades are almost entirely smoke and mirrors, so neither good nor bad grades matter.
December 15th, 2022 at 3:52 PM ^
I think you got bad grades in college and are trying to prove to us all that that doesn't matter and that you're really, in fact, quite smart. You should know that my post was tongue-in-cheek, just a little fun. It's OK if you didn't get good grades in college; no one here is judging you...
December 15th, 2022 at 4:02 PM ^
I got fine grades. But I also am the son of a professor who headed up a program and dealt with both grade inflation and under-served/unmotivated students. AND my mother was an advisor for law students and at-risk kids (at separate times).
As a result of seeing both sides of the collegiate system, I am pretty adamant about a need for a re-evaluation of what colleges require, how they evaluate, and what they can do to better serve students who are struggling.
This is something I've advocated for in work with a number of universities as well as a program with the Chronicle of Higher Education.
But it's cool that your comment was tongue in cheek. Just kinda happened to hit a nerve about what matters to me in education.
December 15th, 2022 at 4:16 PM ^
Well, I wish the very best of luck in overhauling the way student success is evaluated in the United States... :-)
December 15th, 2022 at 4:19 PM ^
So far it's not working.
December 15th, 2022 at 5:21 PM ^
Interesting and well said, BW. I think I'm one of those students you mentioned in the above posts. I got bad grades at U of M and barely graduated (but after initial trouble, I was 3.0+ student over the course of my last two years). But, I've always kicked myself about it because I thought I could've done much better.
December 15th, 2022 at 5:09 PM ^
Here is the most recent, well-received study by a Nobel prize winning researcher at Chicago. https://docs.iza.org/dp10356.pdf. In short it shows that GPA is a predictor of future success because it is a composite output metric that takes into account a lot of personality traits such as resilience, critical thinking, prioritization skills, etc. those skills are valued by employers. So, if you give me two students with roughly the same socio-economic background attending the same school, I’ll take the one with the 3.8 vs the one with 2.8 9 times out of ten vs trying to outsmart the system by conducting a 45 minute interview that is much more fraught with my own biases.
December 15th, 2022 at 7:34 PM ^
I'm familiar with this study, and it's heavily skewed by non-US data. This includes British and Dutch students showcasing their grades, and MIDUS data don't include grades in this study. It also largely focuses on high school education, not college. I'm speaking specifically about US colleges, which are not discussed in this piece.
Additionally, this is a little bit of a self-fulfilling prophesy. If employers are more likely to choose students with good grades when considering applicants, then those students are likely to receive access to more opportunities and therefore have better outcomes.
This study is not germane to the topic discussed above. Thanks, though.
December 16th, 2022 at 11:20 AM ^
Most of the time college GPA equates to this kid worked hard or didn’t.
December 15th, 2022 at 3:07 PM ^
Good thing he didn't try and transfer into Michigan, the Admissions department would have kicked him to the curb!
December 15th, 2022 at 1:00 PM ^
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker Selected To Be The Next NCAA Figurehead
December 15th, 2022 at 1:03 PM ^
This will be interesting - and, IMO, any change from Emmert has to be a good thing.
What do YOU think should be on the agenda for the NCAA and it's incoming president?
My thoughts in no particular order.
1. "Figure things out" - specifically, the transfer portal and NIL.
2. Define and communicate the charter, purpose, and mission of the NCAA.
December 15th, 2022 at 1:38 PM ^
Fire everyone in NCAA and start over with a focus on how to get things right,.especially money part, for students -- not universities, not coaches, not ADs, not P5 commissioners, but students.
December 15th, 2022 at 1:53 PM ^
After Emmert, any minimally competent leader--hell, any minimally literate leader--will seem like FDR.
December 15th, 2022 at 2:43 PM ^
Frank, if I may...
"After Emmert, any minimally incompetent leader... will seem like FDR."
December 15th, 2022 at 3:17 PM ^
How about our old friend Jim....
December 15th, 2022 at 1:03 PM ^
Good hire but a meaningless job.
December 15th, 2022 at 1:14 PM ^
Being maybe one or two hops removed from this guy, I can say that the people whose opinion I respect have told me that he's a smart, direct, and very rational, level headed guy. He's not a man who focuses on polishing his veneer, he is an administrator who keeps things running smoothy and one who understands the value of compromise. I think he'll work well. Good hire.
He's the kind of level headed pragmatist who may be willing to stick his nose into the runaway NIL issues we're hearing about; wonder if we can build consensus to lift the veil around NIL. He's got the legislative connections to make things happen.
Wonder if he'll sit for a lunch once he settles in to brainstorm a bit?