Comments on: At Many Colleges the Term Student-Athlete Simply Does Not Apply

By: Jan R.

Jan R. — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:12:33 +0000

I love this article. IT shows that good scholarship funds are going to people who obviously don’t seem to care about a college education. A College Education is what the Scholarship money is SUPPOSED to be fore. NOT a sideshow to get into the NFL. There are many students that need that funding to get a higher education, and they can’t get it because it goes to a bunch of ball players that obviously don’t care about getting a degree and an education. IF you take money to be a STUDENT-ATHLETE, then you should be both a STUDENT as well as an athlete. Otherwise, you have no business taking the funding away from another bright, intelligent student that truly has the desire to learn. Anyone that thinks these low graduation rates “don’t matter” (regardless of race) Is totally missing the point of what College Sports was originally intended to be. If I donated money to a college for scholarship purposes, I would want it to go to a deserving college hopeful that will use this opportunity to attend schooling to the fullest. Not someone that hopes to make millions for himself playing ball. You should see that Race is not the issue here, it’s the principle of taking the scholarship money without accepting the responsibility of being a STUDENT of the university.

By: College Athletics and Academics - Paul Hewitt Gives Knight Commission an Earful - OpenEducation.net

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:14:25 +0000

[...] in December we took a look at the appalling graduation rates of college athletes, especially those at major universities where [...]

By: Mike Davis

Mike Davis — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 01:23:52 +0000

It is a shame that you, like so much of the media today, try to turn everything into a race issue. Secondly, how is it the school’s fault if there is a graduation gap. Part of the lesson of college (supposedly) is that it is the STUDENT’s responsibility to succeed. Also, I do not see anything referring to the number of students, athlete or non-athlete that take longer, or return later to get their degree.
As long as we keep looking for somebody else to blame for whatever problem we see, we will not find the answer to that problem.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:09:02 +0000

Dear R U,
Yes, we think that it is a bad thing that they do not earn a diploma. That is the fundamental tenet of our article, that the term student-athlete, sadly, does not apply.
Tom Hanson

By: r u serious

r u serious — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:01:28 +0000

Are you joking? this is just plain stupidity. Do you really believe half the things that come out of your mouth. Half the players who go to the better football schools aren’t going there to get a degree ,or a top notch education. They are going there to show off for the nfl scouts. If you think that the fact that they dont graduate is a bad thing when it comes with millions of dollars for playing the sport that they love, you have to be kiding. And if you blame the schools for the players not getting good grades thats just unfair. It the players own damn proboblem. The only time that the colledges are gonna do is keep them from becoming ineligible. Blame the players not the schools.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 02:25:32 +0000

Austin,
Thanks for your feedback. Two things are dreadful in our eyes, the black-white discrepancy is one but the overall rates are another issue. You are right, the athlete owns a piece of this as well. But we wonder, does Boston College do something in the acceptance process as well as make efforts during the student’s time in school? The key is the discrepancy between schools, some do really well and others are simply terrible.
Tom Hanson
Editor

By: Austin Holthaus

Austin Holthaus — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 15:45:17 +0000

This article only tells part of the story…what about choices these students make? You’ve decided to make this a “black and white” issue on multiple levels. Many of these students choose to leave early for the pros (and never return for a degree), they choose to skip class, they choose to get in legal trouble, they choose to deal with family issues..all which may lead to them not graduating. What are the real numbers?…this is just sensationalism. You only want to point out that black students are being used. Let’s let some real statistics do the talking…take life and the student’s responsibility for their own decisions into account.