Notre Dame Ethics Week 2023 to explore the ethics of NIL

While some college athletes have made millions off of their name, image and likeness (NIL) thanks to a change in NCAA rules, the debate still rages: Is NIL a good thing or a bad thing for college sports and student-athletes?

“NIL (Name, Image or Likeness) Revenue: Its Ethical Benefits and Blemishes” is the topic of the University of Notre Dame Ethics Week 2023, a series of panel discussions hosted by the Mendoza College of Business. Ethics Week takes place from noon to 1 p.m. daily between Feb. 13 and Feb. 17. The events, which are free and open to the public, are held in Mendoza’s Jordan Auditorium except for Friday’s talk, which will be located in Mendoza 158.

The full schedule is as follows:

• Feb. 13 (Monday): “NIL Revenue: Its Ethical Potential and Pitfalls,” a panel discussion featuring Mike Bobinski, Purdue University athletic director; Bubba Cunningham, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill athletic director; and Bill Scholl, Marquette University athletic director. The speakers will appear via Zoom. Marketing professor emeritus Patrick Murphy will moderate.
• Feb. 14 (Tuesday): “NIL Revenue: An Overview of Notre Dame’s Policies and Procedures,” presented by Claire VeNard, senior associate athletic director at Notre Dame. Brian Pracht, associate athletics director for industry and campus engagement for Notre Dame Athletics, will moderate.
• Feb. 15 (Wednesday): “MOGL: NIL Revenue as a Means of Empowering Student-Athletes Wanting to Prosper and Contribute,” presented by Notre Dame alumni members and MOGL co-founders Ayden Syal and Brandon Wimbush via Zoom. Claire Donovan, teaching professor of accountancy at Mendoza, will moderate.
• Feb. 16 (Thursday): “NIL Revenue: Examining Its Legal Ramifications for the Student-Athlete, the University and Other Involved Parties,” presented by Notre Dame Law professor emeritus Ed Edmonds and moderated by Notre Dame Law professor emeritus Matthew Barrett.
• Feb. 17 (Friday): “NIL and Sport Marketing: Complementary or Conflict of Interest?” presented by Jonathan Jensen, associate professor of sport administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Department of Exercise and Sport Science and moderated by Scott Nestler, Mendoza adjunct professor. (This event will be held in Mendoza 158.)

Now in its 25th year, Notre Dame Ethics Week takes place annually in February and brings in experts from a diverse array of industries to explore current ethics issues. The series was established to encourage the discussion of ethical matters in undergraduate and graduate business classes at Notre Dame and to secure a foundation for future discussions inside and outside the classroom.

Ethics Week honors the legacy of John Houck, a Notre Dame management professor who authored numerous works on business ethics, including “Is the Good Corporation Dead?”

Visit the Notre Dame Ethics Week website for more information.