Name
Marc Edelman

Position
Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR)

Number of Years in the FAR Position
Four

Alma Mater
B.S. University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School
M.A. (Sports Management), University of Michigan
J.D., Michigan Law School

Hometown
New York, N.Y.

Classes Taught
Contracts, Antitrust, Sports Law, Intellectual Property, Gaming Law
 
1. How did you become a FAR?
The President of my university, Mitchel Wallerstein and the then-Provost, Dave Christy, reached out to me and asked if I would be willing to serve as Faculty Athletic Representative. I then met with our legal counsel to discuss my research and positions on various issues related to the NCAA just to be entirely transparent. Thereafter, I was formally appointed.  
 
2. What is your favorite part of being an FAR?
I get to help good students, with a diverse set of interests and life experiences. The student-athletes at Baruch College are terrific. Many of them are preparing for jobs as entrepreneurs or working on Wall Street. We also have many athletes who are pre-law and pre-med.
    
3. What is the biggest challenge of your job?
The NCAA is a bottom-up trade association of more than 1200 members that votes on the association's bylaws. While part of my job involves ensuring compliance with NCAA bylaws, part of my job also intrinsically involves pushing for ethical reforms. There are a number of areas where current NCAA policies seem outdated, legally suspect, and not in the best interest of student-athletes. Trying to help my university comply with the existing NCAA rules, while at the same time pushing the NCAA to change its rules where they seem ethically wrong, sometimes feels like walking a tightrope.
 
4. If you could go back to your first day as an FAR, what would you tell yourself?
This is a real opportunity for you to make things better for Baruch student-athletes and to support them as people, both individually and collectively. You will now have the ear of several influential people, including the university president. Do not be afraid to express yourself and advocate for your athletes. If you don't advocate for student-athlete well-being, don't expect that someone else with do it for them.

5. What is your favorite show/movie?
Seinfeld.  Even on reruns. 
 
6. What has been the highlight of your time as an FAR?
Attending the annual NCAA conference and having the opportunity to meet with a number of FAR, compliance officers and people in NCAA legal.

7. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
"Sport your court" (meaning always be prepared), "Everyone's replaceable," and "It's better to be looked over than overlooked."  All of this advice came from Larry Parker, who was my supervisor when I was 17 years old and working at a day camp.
 
8. What can you not live without?
Family and friends.
 
9. Who are your favorite teams (other than your school's of course)?
Mets, Knicks, Giants and Islanders. I also root for Michigan football and University of Pennsylvania basketball.

10. Who was your most memorable or inspiring student that you have worked with and why?
I had a student in one of my law classes at Baruch who suffered from degenerative vision loss and was legally blind.  Even without vision, he excelled in my class.  And, he competed in a wide variety of sporting activities, including riding a unicycle.

11. What do you like to do in your free time?
I read a lot of non-fiction, play competitive softball, hike, and perform standup comedy.  

12. Were you a student-athlete?
In high school yes. I played varsity tennis and JV soccer, and also was a baseball player for my town's team. But I did not play a sport in college. I attended the University of Pennsylvania, which was an Ivy League school in Division I, and I did not have the ability to compete on that level. I was, however, a sports writer for my college newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian.

13. If you have a question related to your position as FAR, who do you contact?
Depending on the nature of the question, I might contact out athletic director, legal counsel, our VP of student affairs or the university president.

14. Do you have any pets?
No.
 
15. How do you navigate being a part of two different departments on campus?
I spent the first several years of my professional career working as a lawyer at Skadden, Arps, which is a very intense culture where partners regularly expected me to be in two, three, four places at once.  During that time, I learned to be forthright but unapologetic about my other obligations and to map out my day with a careful calendar. To the extent possible, I always try to keep a careful calendar, plan meetings in advance, and adhere to those commitments in the order in which I make them.