Sunday, December 30, 2012

Education U. or Athletic U.?

What is the purpose of our colleges?  They seem more and more about sports than education.  The other day I had a brief conversation with parents who are putting their kids through college.  The kids don't go to Notre Dame, Duke, Alabama or any other "big time" universities.  They go to good schools whose sports teams play in what is called Division III.  But even these schools have succumbed to the primacy of sports. 

The daughter of one couple is dating a player on the school's basketball team.  Her Christmas vacation began on December 18 and will last through January 23.  His began on December 21 and will end on January 8.  Why should the fact that he is on the basketball team impact his personal life to that degree?  I've never seen a story about the school's sports teams; I suspect that most have not.  It's unlikely the kid or any other player on the team will ever play any form of professional ball.  It makes little sense to me why the school places so much emphasis on sports.

The daughter of another couple is on the lacrosse team of a different school, again the school is not known for sports.  Yet, the team members are the first to schedule their classes, otherwise how could they be sure that they can make practices.  And practices are so important that the players must be available at the training facility at least one-half hour before practice begins, else they are penalized.  The pressure to be a team are applied even in their non-lacrosse lives; there is a separate dormitory for the lacrosse team.

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