The National Labor Relations Board announced Thursday it will hear Northwestern’s appeal of the March 26 ruling that NU football players are University employees.

The University hopes the five-person national office of the NLRB will overturn the Chicago regional director’s ruling, which made the players eligible to unionize.

“Northwestern University is pleased that the National Labor Relations Board today granted Northwestern’s request for review of the decision,” University spokesman Al Cubbage said in a statement. “Northwestern believes strongly that our student-athletes are students first and foremost, not employees. We believe the recent ruling by the NLRB regional director was flawed and overlooked or ignored key evidence that Northwestern presented supporting that position.

NU and the College Athletes Players Association will file briefs to the NLRB expressing their position, and other interested parties — such as the NCAA — may submit briefs as well.

The results of the players’ election to decide whether to form a union, set to take place Friday morning, will be impounded until after the NLRB rules on the appeal.

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