College Athletics and the Future: A Discussion with Brittany Collens

The UMass Journalism Department will host "College Athletics and the Future: A Discussion with Brittany Collens," a talk moderated by Senior Lecturer and Sports Journalism Director Steve Fox, featuring journalism alum Brittany Collens '17 from 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15, in the Journalism Hub on the 4th floor of the Integrated Learning Center (ILC). She will talk about her advocacy for college athletes and her efforts to get the NCAA to work for athletes.

Brittany Collens attended New Mexico State University in 2013-14 and transferred to UMass Amherst in 2014. She graduated with a Journalism degree and an Economics minor in 2017. Since graduating from playing tennis for both D1 schools, Collens has been competing on the professional circuit. During the COVID pandemic, she began freelance writing while still training. Then in October of 2020, Collens found out the NCAA had erased her career alongside her teammates for a minor infraction. This news launched her into the advocacy world, where she has since been interviewed by ESPN, Sports Illustrated, VICE, Tennis Channel, Sporting News, NESN, CBS, Fox, and more. Collens currently works with Sen. Booker, Sen. Murphy on Federal NLI and other bills. She also testified for the Mass NIL bill for Rep. Howitt.