One week ago, The Dartmouth Editorial Board published a column about Dartmouth's recruited athletes ("Verbum Ultimum: Reassessing Recruitment," Jan. 6). In the piece, the Editorial Board stated that the current admissions policy regarding student-athletes results in "an academically weaker student body." Additionally, the Editorial Board claimed that the college's current "lack of athletic success" further proves that the Admissions Office should focus on recruiting athletes of a higher academic quality.
For me personally, this is a hard topic to write about. On the one hand, I'm a writer for this school's paper and it's my job to encourage free speech and to promote the press's obligation to write about difficult and thought-provoking subjects. On the other hand, I'm a recruited athlete and it's my duty to defend the community that I've been a part of for the past four years. Some people would call this a conflict of interest. I call it an opportunity. As a part of two distinct groups, I've been able to observe the divide between students and athletes that exists on the Dartmouth campus.
I respect the Editorials Board's decision to write the article about athletic recruiting; they found a pressing campus issue that they wanted to bring to the forefront of campus discussion. Although I disagree with their conclusion, I'm not going to write a counter-argument.
Instead, I want to talk about the perception of athletes and non-athletes here on the Dartmouth campus. This debate has a polarizing effect on this campus. At Dartmouth, we have the athletes and the "nonners." The dumb jocks and the NARPs (Non Athletic Regular Person). I always hate to label large groups with these broad, restricting generalizations, but I will do so to prove a point.
Some non-athletes complain that recruited athletes weaken the school's academic integrity. However, many exceptional athletes rank among the school's top scholars. There were cross country and soccer athletes recently inducted into Dartmouth's Phi Beta Kappa chapter, and a recruited freshman football player won last year's William S. Churchill Freshman Prize for "outstanding academic achievement." Student athletes do more than hit a ball around all day.
Some athletes, on the other hand, often say their busy schedules prevent them from truly excelling in the classroom. It's true that most athletes have a 20-30 hour-per-week time commitment, but there are plenty of other demanding activities on campus that occupy roughly the same amount of time.
Many students spend late nights slaving in the editing room of student publications. Others spend countless hours in a dance studio preparing for their next show. Like their student-athlete peers, these talented students still find time to study and excel in the classroom.
As you can tell, every rule and every stereotype has an exception. At Dartmouth, nearly every student is an exception to some sort of rule. There are many students on this campus who have reached incredible levels of success despite restrictions such as age, time constraints, or gender. We often get caught up worrying about USA Today college rankings or our students' median standardized test scores, and we forget that the purpose of college is to enrich young adults and prepare them to successfully contribute to society.
Classroom success, although vital, is not the only measure of success at a secondary institution. Similarly, high school class rank, GPA and SAT scores the markers that determine the Academic Index referenced in the Editorial Boards article do not always measure the potential value of an applicant to our institution. It's the Admission Office's job to populate the Dartmouth campus with a diverse student body that excels in a variety of fields.
Have you ever wondered why there are always enough incoming freshman to fill the vacancies in every a cappella group and dance ensemble? It's because our admissions office does a great job at finding incredibly talented students, athletes included.
As a student body, we shouldn't segment ourselves into warring factions based on our non-academic talents. This isn't some gang war with the Bloods against the Crips there aren't any lives at stake. Instead of hating on athletes for an easy admissions process or hating on "nonners" for having too much free time, we should embrace the differences that make us all unique. Every student on this campus has one thing in common: We all attend one of the greatest universities in the world. We don't have enough time to be resentful, and we're all too young to be condescending. Every person on this campus contributes to our community in a different way, and we should always embrace the dissimilarities that make us special.
