UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank will not testify again in a National Collegiate Athletic Association antitrust trial, UW-Madison officials announced Tuesday.
Last week, Blank was a witness in a case brought against the NCAA by Division I student-athletes to determine whether the NCAA can limit compensation for athletes to the full cost of their attendance fees. A comment from her testimony and a university statement following the testimony conflicted, warranting Blank’s potential return to the case.
In her testimony, Blank said "it's not clear" whether or not UW-Madison would continue to run an intercollegiate athletic program if student-athletes were paid.
Following her comment, UW-Madison released a statement that countered hers, saying the university "has no plans to stop offering athletics. Chancellor Blank strongly supports Wisconsin's athletic program and believes the Badgers are a major asset to our campus and the Big Ten."
In the statement, the university also justified Blank’s testimonial, saying her comments were “in the context of describing the economics of running a major broad-based amateur athletics program.”
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken said the conflicting statements by Blank and the university could cause Blank to testify again, despite the universities justification, according to a tweet from Law360.com reporter Dorothy M. Atkins.
According to UW-Madison officials, Blank will have no further involvement in the case, which is ongoing in Oakland, Calif., but is nearing the end of its 10-day bench trial.
UPDATE September 25, 9:18 p.m.: This article was updated after university officials announced Chancellor Blank will not re-testify in the trial.
