As sports betting continues to be legalized across the country, the Purdue Boilermakers are going the other direction.
Purdue’s Board of Trustees has agreed on a policy that will ban sports wagering on Purdue teams by students, faculty, staff and contractors. The policy is expected to be in place next weekend when the Boilermakers take on Iowa.
The policy is thought to be just the second of its kind in the nation after St. Joseph University in Philadelphia enacted a similar anti-sports wagering policy via their student handbook.
"The purpose of this policy is to establish Saint Joseph's University policy regarding sports wagering that reflects the values of the University and adheres to applicable National College Athletic Association ("NCAA") bylaws and rules, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania law, and federal law," the student handbook says.
Purdue president Mitch Daniels says he thinks more schools will be following suit.
“I think it’s inevitable that other places have to be in the asking-questions stage, at least starting to look at this,” Daniels told the Lafayette Journal & Courier. “There was a sense that we’d better move fast – this thing is on top of us,” Daniels said. “It’s as much an expression of principle and general sense of values as it is expected to be some sort of hard and fast rule, where we’re out to punish people. … This just may be the first stab, as we learn more and see what happens.”
Purdue has issued guidelines for the legal and compliance staff, as the new policy could have implications for more casual betting, such as March Madness pools. The ban covers more than 63,000 students, 19,000 faculty and staff members, plus contractors at the West Lafayette, Purdue Northwest and Purdue Fort Wayne campuses.
Purdue administrators said the policy is aimed at protecting student-athletes from pressures from people on campus looking for inside information and to protect the integrity of the university.
Daniels said that other schools in Indiana spent time at the Statehouse in the spring, trying to persuade state lawmakers to keep legalized betting out of Division I college ranks.
“They didn’t go for that,” Daniels said. “Which left us where we are today.”
