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- Four HBCU commissioners asked Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke to back passage of the SCORE Act.
- SCORE Act codifies that student-athletes are not employees, protecting HBCUs from unsustainable payroll and program elimination risks.
- Liability protections enable conferences to set and enforce uniform rules, reducing litigation and ensuring regulatory stability.
- National NIL rules would replace state patchwork, reducing compliance complexity and preventing unfair competitive advantages.
- HBC4Us commissioners represent 48 institutions and 15,000 student-athletes and urge the CBC to engage HBCU leadership directly.
HOUSTON, Tx. — In a renewed campaign, the four NCAA commissioners for HBCU athletics — HBCU4US Association — have sent a second urgent letter to Congress, reaffirming their unified support for the SCORE Act and signaling their commitment to protecting their institutions’ interests.
On May 11, 2026, CIAA Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams Parker, MEAC Commissioner Sonja Stills, SIAC Commissioner Dr. Anthony Holloman, and SWAC Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland wrote to Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke, calling again for bipartisan passage of the SCORE Act.
This is the commissioners’ second letter to the CBC on the SCORE Act. Their first, in September 2025, drew criticism from Rep. Terri Sewell, who felt their support undermined ongoing bill negotiations.
Addressing the criticism, the four commissioners responded this week with the same argument McClelland made in his Capitol Hill remarks last fall: the experts on HBCUs are HBCUs themselves.
“While we understand that there is an ongoing vigorous debate about the various ways Congress can address the currently unsustainable state of collegiate sports, we still believe the SCORE Act is the proposal best suited to address our core concerns,” the commissioners wrote.
What the CIAA, MEAC, SIAC, and SWAC represent
The four HBCU conferences sponsor athletics at 48 NCAA institutions across nearly 20 states, serving 15,000 student-athletes and large alumni communities. CIAA and SIAC compete in Division II; MEAC and SWAC are Division I for most sports.
The commissioners signed the letter as the leadership of the HBC4Us Association, the alliance the four leaders formally launched July 30, 2025, at the Salamander Hotel in Washington, D.C. HBC4Us exists to protect the integrity, legacy, cultural value, and competitiveness of HBCU athletic programs and to give the four conferences a single, coordinated voice in conversations of this size.
The three priorities the commissioners say SCORE addresses
HBCU Legends obtained a copy of the letter through a posting from Yahoo Sports reporter Ross Dellenger, outlines three legislative priorities the commissioners say the SCORE Act delivers for HBCU institutions and student-athletes.
First, the bill protects student-athletes from being classified as employees of their institutions, thereby relieving financial strain on HBCUs that do not generate substantial athletic revenue. The commissioners warned that employee classification could threaten the existence of many HBCU athletic programs by making them financially unsustainable and, in some cases, could lead to the elimination of intercollegiate athletics at those schools.
That mirrors the position McClelland staked out at the 2025 Congressional Black Caucus Foundation conference, where he sat alongside Sewell and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and said the SCORE Act provision on employment status is one HBCUs cannot live without.
“We need more funding,” CIAA Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams Parker emphasized to HBCU Legends in October of 2025. “If we have to pay student‑athletes, it changes the whole model for us. We’re just trying to stabilize HBCU conferences.”
Second, the bill provides carefully defined liability protections that allow conferences and associations to make and enforce uniform rules without facing ongoing legal challenges. For HBCU conferences, this offers greater consistency and security in regulating athletics operations, which is critical to maintaining fair competition and program stability.
Third, the bill creates nationwide rules by replacing more than 30 different state name, image, and likeness laws. This uniformity prevents schools in one state from gaining an unfair advantage due to differing regulations, reducing legal complexity for HBCU conferences and making compliance easier for schools and athletes.
The political context
The May 11 letter arrives as the SCORE Act, H.R. 4312, faces opposition from groups such as the National Urban League and the Sports Fans Coalition. Critics say the bill grants the NCAA legal protection, blocks athletes from changing their employment status, and may disadvantage HBCUs, contrary to what commissioners argue.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order in April 2026 titled “Saving College Sports” that overlaps with several SCORE Act provisions on third-party pay-for-play arrangements and NIL fair market value standards. The Senate version of the legislation continues to face a 60-vote threshold that supporters do not currently have, with Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., working on an alternative framework.
The commissioners’ position has not changed inside that political crosswind. The letter closes with a direct ask to the Congressional Black Caucus: continue the work, and engage HBCU leadership directly on the path forward.
“Without swift legislative action, potential regulatory decisions and persistent litigation will continue to threaten the very fabric of our institutions and their respective sports programs,” the commissioners wrote.
| Brett Davis-Imagn Images
What it means for HBCU athletics
The second letter reinforces that the four HBCU commissioners view federal preemption, employment status protections, and national rules as essential to the survival of HBCU athletics after the House v. NCAA settlement. The commissioners believe the SCORE Act provides the protections that HBCU programs need to remain viable and operate competitively, addressing financial, legal, and regulatory threats left unresolved by previous actions.
Without the passage of the SCORE Act, will HBCU Athletics be placed on life support? No, however, the urgency factor is elevated to an impending threat to HBCUs as a whole.
That position will continue to draw opposition from athlete-rights advocates who view the bill as a transfer of power to the NCAA at the expense of the athletes generating the value. The commissioners’ letter is a direct answer to that critique: the schools they represent operate on different financial models, and a one-size-fits-all reform built around Power Four economics threatens the institutions that have produced Black athletic talent for more than a century.
McWilliams Parker has led the CIAA since 2012. Stills has led the MEAC since January 2022. Dr. McClelland has led the SWAC since 2018. And, Dr. Holloman has led the SIAC since 2022. Together, they represent the largest unified bloc of HBCU athletic leadership in the modern era, and they want the Congressional Black Caucus to hear them and act.
The letter is signed. The position of the HBCU4US is on the record. The next move belongs to Capitol Hill.
THE HBCU4US Letter to the CBC
*HBCU Legends has covered the four commissioners’ Congressional advocacy continuously since their first joint letter to the Congressional Black Caucus in September 2025.
FAQs ON THE SCORE ACT
What is the SCORE Act? The Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements Act, H.R. 4312, is federal legislation introduced in July 2025 that sets national rules for student-athlete name, image, and likeness compensation, preempts state NIL laws, codifies that student-athletes are not employees of their institutions, and provides limited antitrust protections to the NCAA and athletic conferences.
Who are the four HBCU commissioners? Jacqie McWilliams Parker leads the CIAA. Sonja Stills leads the MEAC. Dr. Anthony Holloman leads the SIAC. Dr. Charles McClelland leads the SWAC. The four formed the HBC4Us Association on July 30, 2025, to coordinate advocacy and protect HBCU athletics.
Why are the HBCU commissioners supporting the SCORE Act? The commissioners said the bill protects HBCU athletic programs from three threats: classification of student-athletes as employees, which most HBCUs cannot financially absorb; ongoing litigation challenging conference rule-making authority; and a fragmented patchwork of state NIL laws that disadvantage schools in states with weaker frameworks.
Who is the Congressional Black Caucus chair to whom the letter is addressed? Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, D-N.Y., serves as the 29th chair of the Congressional Black Caucus during the 119th Congress.
How many HBCU student-athletes do the four conferences represent? The four conferences include 48 institutions and serve 15,000 student-athletes.
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