Fraternities aren’t a novel idea to colleges, but a new fraternity at Stanford University could become a turning point in the eventual recognition of Division I football players as employees.
On Monday, the College Football Players Association (CFBPA)—an athlete advocacy organization—announced that a group of Stanford football players have formed the first CFBPA fraternal association. Offensive lineman Fisher Anderson and linebacker Ernest Cooper are the elected player reps.
Although college athletes aren’t currently recognized as employees, and while labor law requires employee status as a prerequisite to forming a union, CFBPA says the Stanford football fraternity is intended to “provide the building blocks for eventual unionization and collective bargaining.”
CFBPA, which also turned five years old on Monday, expects to announce the formation of fraternities at other power conference and Division I programs in the coming weeks.
The fraternities will involve mentoring, educational opportunities and advocacy for the athletes, along with other services intended to better position football players for a college sports world that has become increasingly similar to professional sports. They also create an organizational leadership structure that could facilitate unionization in the future.
