There has been a discussion on college campuses on what is considered a viable major for students and student-athletes. It is basically a smokescreen for falling standards overall.
There have been majors that many athletes gravitate to…. it may be because the subject is interesting… such as Psychology or Business…. or maybe…. gasp!… because it is easy.
USA Today reported that athletes do tend to congregate in certain subjects:
“When the Auburn football team’s defense heads into the huddle, the players probably don’t talk sociology. But seven defensive players on Auburn’s 2003 football roster are majoring in that field. Overall, 10 of the 38 Tigers football players whose majors appear in the team’s media guide are in sociology.”
Another article describes a similar tale:
“A review of ASU’s 2003 football team revealed that the most popular major is interdisciplinary studies, a degree program widely considered by students and faculty to be among the university’s easiest. A full 18 percent, or 17 of 94, team members were in the program this past fall.”
Some folks on and off campus grumble about any efforts to give athletes what they consider ‘preferential treatment.’ You know these guys, they were picked last in grade school:
“NCAA Commissioner Myles Brand announced sweeping academic reforms, aimed at increasing dishonesty, cheating, and preferential treatment for student athletes.”
Well, bad stuff happens….. but for most student-athletes this is a rare experience. With the changes in NCAA rules, athletes can continue their athletic performance in graduate school…. for those academically gifted to continue.
It should not escape anyone’s notice that many of the top academic schools in the country are also the top athletic powers as well. The reason for this is obvious, a rich alum makes a donation to their athletic program and then turns to donate funds for a new Physics building. it happens all the time. Some of the best college presidents have recognized this from the beginning… athletics brings in the supporters that can be massaged into donating something more.
Take a trip on U.S. News and World Report and check out the top colleges… you may be surprised to see how many big bowl colleges are top ranked academically!
Research Medical Schools:
# 3 — University of pennsylvania
# 6 — Duke university
# 7 — Stanford
also #7 — University of Washington
# 10 — Baylor
# 11 — UCLA
# 11 tie – University of Michigan — Ann Arbor
…. and the list goes on and on… my own alma Mater Southern California is #36.
The point is that athletics brings pride, attention and dollars into a university. It is important to note that even Harvard and Yale were once football powers. Here’s a trivia fact for you: an amazing 25% of the student body at Harvard is involved in intercollegiate athletics.
This reminds me of the story of — I believe — the University of Texas, after resenting the insinuations of academic laxness, the President traveled up to the Ivies and ‘bought’ a bunch of their Nobel prize winners to take home to Texas. As one Nobel laureate is rumored to have responded to questions of why he would leave Harvard: ” well, they offerred me 5 times my salary and a building. ” Money talks… and it comes directly or indriectly from athletics and their supporters.
The truth of being an athlete on any campus today is very different from what most people think. Athletes have to make ‘progress’ towards their degree at a faster rate than is required by the typical ‘student-nonathlete.’ At Cal Poly San Luis Obispo the average student ‘gets through’ around 6.2 years….. oooops. Most athletes normally wouldn’t get cut this much slack. Maybe it might take 5 years for an engineering degree, but for liberal arts?
Nevertheless, Athletes do need extra help. Few students work as physically hard as athletes during an academic week and the help given keeps the playing field level. One great stride has been in providing academic support through book purchases, advisors and study halls. After all, most athletes don’t come from wealthy families.
College athletes are a natural target for what many have considered the ‘dumbing down of the university system.’ However, collegiate sports really isn’t the problem. I remember reading the basic requirements around the turn of the century for one of the Ivies. The ‘candidate’ must demonstrate a proficiency in Greek and Latin… and then there were some really tough requirements. Considering a foreign language is not a serious prerequisite any more for college… I guess we can say that there has been a slackening of requirements all the way around.
As the NCAA is fond of saying, it is important to remember that most student-athletes go on to become professionals in areas other than their sports… plus something else happens:
“A new study found that on the average athletes… made more money six years after college.”
Personally, participating in sports teaches one important lesson that one can never learn in the classroom: that ‘perseverance’ is the key to success in everything.
Roger Freberg
PS. a note to the Cal Poly Professor who was complaining about the fact that the football coach was now making more money that he was…. Imagine how you would feel if we really had a good team and they had to really pay him what he was worth?