The virtual program will feature key officials from the NCAA, Ivy League, UCLA, and the Sun Belt Conference

PASADENA, Calif. (February 22, 2021) – The Rose Bowl Institute announced today that it will air its next program on Thursday, February 25, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. PT/ 4:00 p.m. ET – A Dialogue on the Pandemic & Collegiate Sports.  The program will be available for free viewing due to the generous contributions of private donors.

The dialogue will address the many issues and questions raised by COVID-19-related restrictions on collegiate sports in a one-hour moderated discussion. Moderated by ESPN College Football Playoff Senior Writer and Studio Analyst Heather Dinich, the panel will consist of UCLA Athletic Director Martin Jarmond, Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris, Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill, and NCAA Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel Scott Bearby.

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, authorities have restricted playing or gathering for sports at the professional, collegiate, high school, and youth league levels. Restrictions came from State, local, and league authorities, and by individual teams themselves.  Now, the emergence of vaccines has changed the playing field for COVID restrictions substantially and the future decision-making for leaders at all athletic levels.  The dialogue will address questions and issues such as:

• How should authorities assess the safety and advisability of playing sports?
• What are the paramount considerations in deciding to play or not? (E.g. health of players, spectators, hospital capacities, economic impact, other?) Who makes what decision?
• How and when should restrictions be lifted or reimposed?
• What criteria should they use?
• What are the best practices for playing and watching collegiate sports in 2021?
• What is the expected timing of relaxing spectator restrictions?

“Sports constitute a highly visible sector of our society,” said Rose Bowl Institute president Charlie Firestone. “How colleges handle the pandemic sends important messages to the broader society about the value of human life, the economics of higher education, and workable health measures for close interactions and gatherings.”

The dialogue will be streamed on the Rose Bowl Institute’s Facebook and YouTube channels, and the Rose Bowl Institute website at www.rosebowlinstitute.org.  Viewers can register for free here.

Click here to view the Managing Athletics during the Pandemic promo video.

The Rose Bowl Institute, an arm of the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation and Rose Bowl Stadium, champions sportsmanship, leadership, and citizenship and aims to “leverage the power of sports to unite people everywhere.”

See the Promo video here. If you are interested in more information please email rosebowlinstitute@rosebowlstadium.com or visit www.rosebowlinstitute.org.

About the Rose Bowl Institute

Launched in August 2020, the Rose Bowl Institute is an arm of the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation. Its mission is to champion sportsmanship and leverage the power of sports to unite people everywhere.  Through educational programs and dialogues, the Institute encourages, empowers, and inspires positive acts of sportsmanship, leadership, and citizenship.

About the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation

Formed in 2010, the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation is a 501(c)3, tax-exempt organization whose primary goal is to financially ensure the protection, preservation, and enhancement of the future of the Stadium as a National Historic Landmark. The Foundation has established funding for key capital improvement initiatives, educational programming, and heritage protection due to the generosity of supporters from around the world who are invested in its premier future.

About the Rose Bowl Stadium

The Rose Bowl Stadium is the proud home of the Tournament of Roses’ Rose Bowl Game, UCLA Bruins football, AmericaFest Fourth of July Celebration, concerts including Kenny Chesney, Coldplay, Taylor Swift, and U2, international and Premier League soccer matches, and the World’s Largest Flea Market.

A National Historic Landmark built in 1922 and known around the world, the Rose Bowl Stadium has earned its world-class reputation by hosting five NFL Super Bowl games, the 1984 Olympic Soccer matches, the 1994 Men’s World Cup, the 1999 Women’s World Cup, four BCS National College Football Championship Games and the College Football Playoff Semi-Final game.

Rose Bowl Institute Advisory Board

• Maurice Ashley – International Grandmaster; inductee of US Chess Hall of Fame; founder of Harlem Chess Center; author and commentator. (New York, NY)

• Tim Brant – 30-year broadcast veteran; 2013 Broadcaster of the Year; former broadcast partner of Keith Jackson. (Chevy Chase, MD)

• John Canning, Jr. – founder and chairman, Madison Dearborn Partners; board member and part-owner, Milwaukee Brewers; Life Trustee, Northwestern University; former Chairman, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. (Chicago, IL)

• Brandi Chastain – 2x FIFA Women’s World Cup champion; 2x Olympic gold-medalist; coach, and sports broadcaster. (San Jose, CA)

• Kevin Clifford – retired Chairman and CEO of American Funds Group; Board Member of College Football Hall of Fame and United States Olympic and Paralympic Foundation. (Los Angeles, CA)

• Baron Davis – 2x NBA All-Star, 2x NBA steals leader; UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame and All- American; Gatorade Player of the Year, 1997; founder and president, Baron Davis Enterprises, Black Santa Company, 5 Balloons Interactive; TNT commentator; actor; producer. (Los Angeles, CA)

• Eric Dickerson – Pro Football Hall of Famer; NFL Outstanding Player, 1986; NFL Rushing Yards record-holder; 6x Pro Bowl Selection; L.A. Rams Retired Number 29; NFL All 100 Year Anniversary Team and NFL 1980’s All-Decade Team; Consensus All American at SMU; 2020 College Football Hall of Fame Inductee (Los Angeles, CA)Ann Meyers Drysdale – UCLA basketball star, first female sports scholarship recipient at UCLA, Basketball Hall of Famer, broadcaster, and sports executive; considered one of the top five female athletes of all time (Huntington Beach, CA)

• Tom Farrey – Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Sports and Society Program; author of Game On: The All-American Race to Make Champions of our Children; former writer for ESPN (San Clemente, CA)

• Julie Foudy– former captain of the U.S. Women’s National Team with a 17-year career from 1987-2004; won two FIFA Women’s World Cup titles and three Olympic medals; member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame; four-time All-American at Stanford; commentator for ESPN Soccer and ESPNw. (Orange County, CA)

• Dan Fouts – 15-years as quarterback for the San Diego Chargers, Pro Football Hall of Fame; 1979 AFL Most Valuable Player (AP); broadcast analyst. (Sisters, Oregon)

• Lauren Gibbs–2xOlympic Medalist (bobsled); public speaker; team captain and All-Ivy volleyball player at Brown University. (Denver, CO)

• Robin Harris–Executive Director of the Ivy League Council of Presidents. (Princeton, NJ)

• Henry Hernandez – President, Inter-Con Security Systems; Board Member, Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation; college athlete. (Pasadena, CA)

• Martin Jarmond – Athletic Director, UCLA; former assistant and deputy AD at Ohio State and assistant AD at Michigan State; captain of UNC Wilmington basketball team.

• Cobi Jones – 3x World Cup participant; Olympian; National Soccer Hall of Fame Inductee; the first jersey retired in MLS history; all-time leader for Team USA in caps; analyst for Fox Sports and the LA Galaxy’s analyst for Spectrum Sportsnet. (Los Angeles, CA)

• Stan Kasten–President of the Los Angeles Dodgers; former president of the Washington Nationals, Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Thrashers, and Atlanta Hawks. Los Angeles Sports Council Executive of the Year, 2013. (Los Angeles, CA)

• Billie Jean King–Sports Icon And Equality Champion. (New York, NY)

• Valorie Kondos Field – coach of UCLA gymnastics team from 1991-2019, 7x National Champions; 15x Pac-12 Champions; Pac-12 Coach of the Century; 4x NACGC/W Coach of the Year; 4x Pac-12 Coach of the Year; third-most winning NCAA gymnastics coach. Author, Life is Short, Don’t Wait to Dance (2018) (Fayetteville, AK)

• Angela LaChica – President and CEO, LaChica Sports. (San Diego, CA)
  
• Ronnie Lott – Pro Football and College Football Hall of Famer; 4x Super Bowl Champion; 10x NFL Pro-Bowl; NFL 75th & 100th Anniversary Teams; 2x Rose Bowl Game Champion; consensus All American. (Bay Area, CA)

• Kevin Martinez – ESPN Vice President, Corporate Citizenship, overseeing ESPN’s sponsorship of the Special Olympics and collaboration with the V Foundation. Formerly, VP, corporate social responsibility with KPMG, and president of the Home Depot Foundation.

• Misty May-Treanor – 3x Olympic Gold Medalist in Beach Volleyball; Volleyball Hall of Famer; NCAA National Champion and Outstanding Player; Outstanding Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year, 1998-99; AVP MVP; co-chair, President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition (Orange County, CA)

• Patrick McCaskey – Vice President, Board Member, and part-owner, Chicago Bears. Chairman of Sports Faith International; author. (Lake Forest, IL)

• Jessica Mendoza – ESPN analyst; first woman to serve as a baseball analyst for nationally- televised MLB games; Olympic Gold and Silver Medalist; USA Softball Athlete of the Year, 2006; member of the National Softball Hall of Fame; 4x All-American at Stanford (Bend, OR)

• Katelyn Ohashi – former UCLA gymnast, winner of the ESPYs for “best viral sports moment” and “best play” of 2019 for her perfect 10 performance; 6x All-American; 2011 junior national champion and the winner of the 2013 American Cup. (Seattle, WA)

• Luis Patino – President, General Manager, Univision Los Angeles Local Media; Sr. Vice President, Univision Television Group (Pasadena, CA)

• Larry Paul – Managing Principal of Laurel Crown Partners; minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers; member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Advisory Board (Los Angeles, CA)

• Martha Saucedo – Chief External Affairs Officer, AEG; board member, Central City Association of Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA)

• John Sciarra–1976 Rose Bowl Game MVP for UCLA; played for Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL and the Canadian Football League; business entrepreneur (Newport Beach, CA)

• Mark Shuster– President and CEO, Shuster Financial Group; founding donor, Rose Bowl Institute (Pasadena, CA)

• Janet Marie Smith – Senior Vice President, Planning and Development, Los Angeles Dodgers; architect and urban planner responsible for planning and oversight of Rose Bowl, Dodger Stadium, and Fenway Park renovations, and creating Oriole Park at Camden Yards; 2017, Prof. of Architecture at Yale. (Baltimore, MD)
  
• Bob Sutcliffe — venture lawyer, business advisor, and Managing Director of Craftsman Capital Advisors LLC. Authored the original concept and vision memo for the creation of the Rose Bowl Institute. (Pasadena, CA)

• Matthew Sign–Chief Operating Officer, National Football Foundation. (FortWorth, TX)

• Maria Taylor – ESPN host and reporter; host, NBA Countdown; former college athlete. (Atlanta, GA)

• Julie Uhrman–Founder and President, Angel City Football Club of the National Women’s Soccer League; founder and CEO of OUYA, an Android-based game console company; named one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company and one of the Creative 50 by Ad Age. (Santa Monica, CA)

• Dick Vermeil–SuperBowlwinningcoach;formerNFLcoachoftheEagles, Rams and Chiefs; coached UCLA to the 1976 Rose Bowl Game victory in an upset of Ohio State. (Doylestown, PA)

• Daniel Villanueva, Jr. – founding president of the Los Angeles Galaxy; founding partner of RC/Fortis; co-founder of Moya, Villanueva & Associates, and principal in other businesses. (Castle Rock, CO)

• J.C. Watts – President of Black News Channel, former U.S. Congressman (R-OK) (1995- 2003); gridiron star as a quarterback at the University of Oklahoma; first African American elected to statewide office in Oklahoma. (Eufaula, OK)

• Dr. Jen Welter –1st female coach in the NFL; 1st female running back in men’s pro football; 14-year women’s football veteran; 2x Olympic Gold Medalist, 4x World Champion, IFAF Women’s Football; head coach of 2017 Team Australia, IFAF; founder of Gridiron Girls and co-founder of Critter Fitter. (Los Angeles, CA)

• Jason Whitlock – Sports journalist and media personality with Outkick the Coverage; sportswriter for the Kansas City Star from 1994-2010 before stops at ESPN and Fox Sports. (Los Angeles, CA and Nashville, TN)

• Marcellus Wiley– Host of ‘Speak for Yourself’, retired NFL All-Pro, Ivy League Hall of Fame (Columbia University), Author of the book, Never Shut Up. (Los Angeles, CA)

• Vince Young – 2x Rose Bowl Game MVP, Heisman Trophy Runner-Up, National Champion, University of Texas; former NFL All-Pro Player and College Football Hall of Famer. (Austin, TX)