SCANDAL: Universities lower academic standards for college athletes.
by Valeria Gutierrez, Staff Writer
Regardless of where you’re from, where you live or who you surround yourself with, there is always competition. Competition can derive from wanting to obtain a better education, a higher paying job, more exquisite food, a happier family and last but not least, sports. In order to obtain success, most people require a college education. While dominating a sport and maintaining an excellent Grade Point Average (G.P.A.) is the best way to be guaranteed admission to a superior university, student athletes who can “do it all” are rare. Students with high Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and/or American College Testing (ACT) scores and G.P.A. are likely to continue to the numerous universities who accept them. Athletes who earn lower scores are left with fewer options for their future—or so we thought.
As part of a study by CNN News and learning specialist Mary Willingham from the University of North Carolina, multiple universities and colleges with successful sports teams (particularly in basketball and football) were investigated for their academic success. Although the idea of universities lowering the admission standards for their future college athletes is not new, the debate was sparked once again when learning specialists and tutors at some of the highest ranked academically and athletically universities in the state came clean and said a number of student athletes could barely read or write. While a few of these students were lucky to have a fifth or seventh grade reading capacity, none of them would be able to understand their textbooks at the university, which are written at a ninth grade level. With limited reading or writing abilities, it was no shock that the small percentage of these athletes scored incredibly low on their SAT and ACT.
All colleges and universities require each admission, regardless of special talents, to have an accompanying SAT or ACT score. The nationwide average for the ACT is a 20 out of 36, while certain athletes have been accepted with scores as low as single digit numbers. On the SAT critical reading test the national average is 500, while many student athletes scored in the 200s and 300s. The lowest possible score on this section of the test is 200. In response, universities accepting these student athletes said some aim for the minimum score possible or that they have learning disabilities. A limited amount of the low test scores are acceptable but scoring as well as a 5th grader is no excuse. Other athletes are given “disabilities.” Linda Bensel-Meyers, a university-hired psychologist for the University of Tennessee, diagnosed learning disabilities in athletes and put them into programs with different graduation requirements. Regardless of this struggling ten percent, colleges continue to push for these talented athletes.
Athletes taken in by universities because of their athletic abilities are usually given easy courses and kept around for the money they produce during the year. Whenever championships are won, the university receives a cash prize and prestige as well as recognition from high school students, whether they are student athletes or not. This gives the university money not only at the moment they win an important game, but also in future application periods. A large amount of this cash goes towards college courses and benefits given at the university that would otherwise cost more or cease to exist without the money. While this helps the overall well-being of the university, the less intellectually talented athletes are treated more like money than students.
Kadence Otto, a former professor at the University of Florida recalls an incident with a starting student athlete who was constantly pushed through his college courses. Though he could not read and write, he was passed along in order to continue playing legally by National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules. Unfortunately for the young athlete, he received a career-ending injury and was never seen at the University of Florida again. Just like the University of Florida, other colleges will help their student athletes as much as they can, but once the student is unable to produce any money or benefits for the school, the student is cut off from the additional help he or she was receiving before.
Not all schools operate with the same biased views. Tom Hill, Iowa State’s senior vice president for student affairs believes that all students should acquire the same academic benefits as an athlete and has gladly given every student and athlete the right to the same tutors. Hill has also admitted that he is aware of the other colleges breaking rules in the NCAA, but refuses to stoop to such a level because education and athletics are equally important in his view. Entertainment and Sports Programming Network’s (ESPN) show “Outside the Lines” created a special in which the cheating scandal surfaced. It showed tutors writing papers and giving answers to athletes. In the past few years, professional athletes Kevin Ross, Dexter Manley and Dasmine Cathey came out and told the public of their hardships during college with reading and writing.
Sports are a privilege, not a right. While sports and education balance and help each other throughout the year in terms of money, unfair sports deals can bring shame to the school. The purpose of colleges and universities is to assist their students and contribute to society in their own way. Even though some student athletes are lucky enough to enter their professional sport and do what they love, most will not. Without the ability to read or write, how can one athlete positively affect the world? Although laws to protect these student athletes during and after college are being pushed through Congress and the NCAA, the laws will not work unless people enforce them.