Did you know that if you Google search the term "student-athlete" on The Dartmouth's web site archives, you get over 110 article hits? A similar search for "student-musician" returns only one result. It isn't hard to see that college athletics and academics have been uncomfortable bedfellows for a long time. We don't refer to our theater department as being filled with "student-actors" or our orchestras as filled with "student-musicians."
We have forgotten the purpose and value of athletics in a collegiate environment, and, in the void where we failed to articulate the role of sports, tension has grown between academic and athletic departments. Our problems at Dartmouth are less severe symptoms of a national disease: Pseudo-professional college sports teams have dominated national sports like basketball and football. Many athletic programs seem to represent their university in scarcely more than name.
The difficult relationship between academics and athletics has been an ongoing trend, sometimes resembling some kind of strange nuclear arms race. This past December at the University of Florida, it was reported that members of the football team scored an average of 346 points lower on the SAT than the rest of the student body. Former university president Charles Young was quoted as saying, "We go out on the field and get beaten by people we couldn't admit. It creates strong pressures to go [to rival schools' admission standards], and there have to be very strong countervailing pressures to avoid going there."
Luckily, Dartmouth is in a much different position than larger Division I public universities. We have higher academic standards, and enjoy relative athletic success despite the fact that we offer no athletic scholarships.
Unfortunately, however, instead of leveraging the strengths of the Ivy League to handle athletics differently than the rest of the nation, we have chosen a very conventional athletic model.
Josie Harper's resignation and the vision of Dartmouth's next president can return athletics to its invaluable place in a balanced education.
As a member of the cycling team, I can attest that the discipline to train, suffer and fight for improvement has benefitted me on and off the road. So what's the first step in bringing athletics more in line with the academic goals of this institution?
It might sound crazy, but we should eliminate the athletic department and reform recruiting, without killing athletics or cutting funding.
We should simply follow the Vanderbilt model. Vanderbilt has a Division I athletic program that competes regularly with nationally-ranked teams. In 2003, the school folded varsity athletics into its Office of Student Life, the same office responsible for all other student groups. Since the change, Vanderbilt's teams have enjoyed some of the best years in its athletic history.
At the College, the synergy this change would provide could prove beneficial in critical areas such as marketing, fundraising and staff efficiency.
More needs to be done to bring athletics under control. Let's demilitarize the recruiting process. Let's scale back the recruiting rat race that pressures kids to make verbal NCAA sport commitments early in their high school careers, and tempts colleges to compromise their academic standards in favor of a performance edge on the field. As long as Dartmouth's focus remains on providing the very best in undergraduate education, it is impossible to justify relaxed academic standards for athletic recruiting. If it means a move to Division III, so be it. The Ivy League would not be committing athletic suicide; schools like Tufts and Emory made that successful shift years ago. In a campus that often complains about social segregation, we could see a lot of dividends.
I don't want Dartmouth to be a college of "student-athletes" and students. I want students with no following clarification, just interests ranging from the Olympic shot put to Cicero -- the World Rowing Championships to the cello.
Let's work together with the Ivy League to demilitarize recruiting and create a league where athletics is an accessible, exciting and engaging endeavor that enhances the scholarly pursuits of all involved, both on and off the field.
