Tennessee Voices, Episode 360: Beth DeBauche, commissioner, Ohio Valley Conference
Fairness, equity and integrity are among the key issues that college athletics leaders want to maintain, defend and continue.
It is a challenging task given changes in the law or social attitudes and occasional barriers to progress.
On this episode of the Tennessee Voices video podcast, Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner Elizabeth "Beth" DeBauche spoke about her role and the changing landscape for intercollegiate sports.
DeBauche and I delved into issues involving Title IX, a law which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary mandating an equal playing field for men and women's sports.
DeBauche also talked about the impact of the patchwork of Name, Image and Likeness state laws, which are allowing college athletes to profit from their brands before they enter the world of professional sports.
She described the challenges and offered solutions.
The Ohio Valley Conference is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, and serves 11 institutions including three in Tennessee: Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee Tech in Cookeville and University of Tennessee at Martin.
DeBauche also shared her own origin story as the daughter of a high school coach in Wisconsin who went to Indiana for undergrad, where she played club golf, and for law school.
She serves on multiple boards including the new NCAA Board of Governors.
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About Tennessee Voices
The Tennessee Voices videocast is a 20-minute program, which started in March 2020 and invites leaders, thinkers and innovators who have written guest columns for a USA TODAY Network Tennessee publication to share their insights and wisdom with me and our viewers.
Watch past episodes: Tennessee Voices videocast
Please email your ideas for future guests to me at dplazas@tennessean.com. Thank you for watching.
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David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network - Tennessee. He is of Colombian and Cuban descent, has studied or worked in several Spanish-speaking countries, and was the founding editor of Gaceta Tropical in Southwest Florida. He has lived in Tennessee since 2014. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Video podcast: Beth DeBauche, commissioner, Ohio Valley Conference
