Dartmouth men's basketball vote to unionize seen as overdue milestone to college athlete advocates

For those who have led unsuccessful labor movements involving NCAA athletes, the vote by Dartmouth men's basketball players to unionize felt momentous — even if they are still a long way from forming the first union in college sports.

In a 13-2 vote in a building on the campus in Hanover, New Hampshire, and under supervision of the National Labor Relations Board, players elected to join the Service Employees International Union Local 560 on Tuesday.

“This is definitely a milestone that has been reached. One that we believe should have been reached long ago,” said Ramogi Huma, a longtime advocate for college athletes who helped organize a movement to unionize Northwestern football players a decade ago.

As with Dartmouth basketball, a regional ruling by the NLRB cleared the way for a vote by the Northwestern football team to unionize. However, the votes were impounded and never revealed after the full board in 2015 dismissed the argument that the players were employees of the private Big Ten school.