[terry]

NCAA rules are at their heart supposed to be about ensuring level playing fields for competition. They are not supposed to be some kind of substitute for state or federal laws. In this case, the primary result is problems with something other than athletic competitiveness, and to some extent might hurt the guilty party's team [i.e. if a spot is offered to a non-athlete for money instead of an actual athlete who could help the team]. The exception seems to be for things like the Stanford sailing case. These donations to the program would presumably give a competitive edge to the sailors. However, as far as I know there are no NCAA restrictions on anyone donating to sports programs/athletic departments. 

In the real world, none of these thoughts may matter. It seems that the NCAA tends to swing in the wind of public opinion. When there is an outcry saying "why isn't the NCAA doing anything about this horrible breach of ethics/law", the NCAA seems to then wade in. When these are not level playing field issues, the NCAA often then gets their penalties overthrown in the courts (e.g. see Penn State University).

If the NCAA wants to take action against the schools that were involved, there are some general NCAA rules about honesty and integrity that might be applied to this situation. For example, Bylaw 10.01.1 says:

"Individuals employed by (or associated with) a member institution to administer, conduct or coach intercollegiate athletics and all participating student-athletes shall act with honesty and sportsmanship at all times. . . ."

That's probably broad enough to apply, even if the offending school did not gain any competitive advantage. There are some other rules that might apply as well.

In Stanford's case, as I mentioned above, the dishonest conduct occurred in sailing, which is not an NCAA sport. The NCAA cannot punish the sailing program. But of course, Stanford is an NCAA member. I don't know whether the NCAA has the ability to punish a member school for conduct that occurred in a non-NCAA sport.

[terry]

NCAA rules are at their heart supposed to be about ensuring level playing fields for competition. They are not supposed to be some kind of substitute for state or federal laws. In this case, the primary result is problems with something other than athletic competitiveness, and to some extent might hurt the guilty party's team [i.e. if a spot is offered to a non-athlete for money instead of an actual athlete who could help the team]. The exception seems to be for things like the Stanford sailing case. These donations to the program would presumably give a competitive edge to the sailors. However, as far as I know there are no NCAA restrictions on anyone donating to sports programs/athletic departments. 

In the real world, none of these thoughts may matter. It seems that the NCAA tends to swing in the wind of public opinion. When there is an outcry saying "why isn't the NCAA doing anything about this horrible breach of ethics/law", the NCAA seems to then wade in. When these are not level playing field issues, the NCAA often then gets their penalties overthrown in the courts (e.g. see Penn State University).

If the NCAA wants to take action against the schools that were involved, there are some general NCAA rules about honesty and integrity that might be applied to this situation. For example, Bylaw 10.01.1 says:

"Individuals employed by (or associated with) a member institution to administer, conduct or coach intercollegiate athletics and all participating student-athletes shall act with honesty and sportsmanship at all times. . . ."

That's probably broad enough to apply, even if the offending school did not gain any competitive advantage. There are some other rules that might apply as well.

In Stanford's case, as I mentioned above, the dishonest conduct occurred in sailing, which is not an NCAA sport. The NCAA cannot punish the sailing program. But of course, Stanford is an NCAA member. I don't know whether the NCAA has the ability to punish a member school for conduct that occurred in a non-NCAA sport.