The Case for Education

I have always been one of Robert’s greatest defenders. I normally have no problem joining Team Robert in ganging up on Team Ben. But I am here today to disagree with him for a moment. Robert wrote a post about the huge problems with college athletics, and, among other arguments, he points out that they are not about education. I’m here to defend education.

College athletes can, in fact, read. 

Robert writes:

The reason I thought to write about this subject was an article on CNN.com regarding a study by Mary Willingham.  She studied college athletes at North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and discovered that between 6 and 18% of college athletes “couldn’t read well.

This study was from UNC–the university that is drowning in NCAA academic violations. They made up an entire department, made up classes, had problems with plagiarism, and had tutors doing athletes’ work for them. UNC is the exception, not the rule. I know Robert can throw out more studies about reading levels of athletes, but I would still say that it’s a rarity to come across an athlete who struggles with reading, and most universities would likely get special help for said athlete.

They have an incredible amount of resources. 

Athletes have tutors who travel with them. When they are gone for several days at a time, they are required to put in a certain number of study hours. When they are not traveling, most of them have at least four hours of tutoring sessions per week, plus eight hours of required quiet study per week. In quiet study, they cannot have cell phones, tablets, or computers–only books and homework assignments. They have a computer lab and access to printing. They also have a career center and each sport has an academic counselor and graduate assistants. Graduate assistants check their grades, keep copies of each student’s syllabi, follow up with professors, and check attendance. The tutoring center even helps athletes get involved with charities and community service events. Of course, this is all  true of UK, but I know that other universities have very similar programs.

The people who work with student athletes really believe in the cause.

I know this because I tutor them. I have a lot of rules to follow and I can’t say much because of NCAA compliance rules, so I can only tell you the things that are widely known about tutoring centers and information that can be found on the UK Athletics website. I can tell you that the tutors really believe in what they’re doing. A lot of the tutors and mentors are retired teachers themselves, and could care less that the student they are working with will likely be in the NBA soon. They care about whether the student knows how to craft a proper thesis statement and whether they can successfully work through tough calculus problems. The athletes also have mentors who help them manage their time. They meet with them every week to plan out their days and schedule in time for meals, homework, and projects. They are there, essentially, to help athletes navigate through their busy life and make sure they aren’t falling behind.

Robert’s post suggests that, perhaps tutors and advisors working with athletes do what they do to ensure the student’s eligibility. I don’t disagree that eligibility is a factor, but everyone, not just athletes, is working toward a similar goal. When I am waiting for my law school grades, of course I am hoping for A’s, but really, I just need to make sure that I do well enough to keep my scholarship. Every Singletary scholar at UK I have met shares that concern as well. We are all working to maintain a certain GPA, keep a scholarship, or do well enough to apply to certain grad programs. So yes, eligibility is always going to be A GOAL at any university, but it’s not THE GOAL.

Instructors don’t give free passes.

I had several classes with athletes in undergrad, and in my experience, they were treated like every other student. Of course they got to turn in work early or late or take makeup tests because of traveling, but so do choir students who travel for performances, or mock trial students who travel for competitions. While professors are usually at least semi-sympathetic to their demanding schedules, I have never seen one just pass an athlete along. I do believe that some students were probably passed along in grade school or high school, but I have never seen this at the college level. Again, I would say that the percentage of students who struggle is still very low.

Athletes have goals other than playing professional sports.

Some student athletes believe they will play in the pros, and some (few) will, but they have other hopes and dreams. A lot of them want to be teachers, personal trainers, physical therapists, or work in broadcast journalism or public relations. They want to use their athletic experiences to do something other than playing, because they are all well aware that they can’t play forever. Some have career goals that have nothing to do with sports. For many, their career aspirations mean that they have to take really difficult classes like anatomy and physics, which are required courses for Kinesiology majors. Some do internships during offseason, and a lot of them get summer jobs just like other college students do. What I think is so cool about UK is that so many professional athletes come back here to finish their degrees. Some even become tutors to other athletes!

There are problems with college athletics, and yes, SOME universities are doing a terrible job at ensuring that their athletes also receive a quality education (*cough, UNC, cough*), but I believe that with most issues concerning education, the universities are not the problem. Academic problems begin in grade school or high school, and universities are just doing their best to help athletes keep up.