The Drake Group is a network of American academics who believe that college athletics

College athletics

College athletics refers primarily to sports and athletic competition organized and funded by institutions of tertiary education . In the United States, college athletics is a two-tiered system. The first tier includes the sports that are sanctioned by one of the collegiate sport governing bodies...

 has become too dominant a force on university campuses. It was established in 1999 at a meeting at Drake University

Drake University

Drake University is a private, co-educational university located in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The institution offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and pharmacy. Today, Drake is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the country....

 in Iowa by Allen L. Sack, a sociologist at the University of New Haven

University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a private university that combines a liberal arts education with professional training. The university comprises five colleges: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business, the Tagliatela College of Engineering, the Henry C...

, and used to be known as the "National Alliance for College Athletic Reform".

Since 2004, they have given an annual award named after the University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

 president Robert Maynard Hutchins.