Academic Excellence Distracted

This is the season of college applications, sent out by high school students to colleges of choice by this time, and now responses are either in hand or still awaiting. Some have already committed. It is also a season that includes athletic recruiting, though largely done by this time. Having a grandson recently immersed in both, I have become somewhat educated about benefits and pitfalls in a process that has been so altered by the N.C.A.A.’s money-driven Transfer Portal. The question is this: Are you going to college for the academics as priority, or are you going foremost to compete in the sport of your choice, with pay? The latter is a very strong driver for many.

On the other hand, the benefit of being both an academically gifted student and a gifted athlete is that one might be actively sought out by colleges that actually put academics first. That means attending to classroom requirements comes first: football practice is not all day or every day; it is not made hard to register for meaningful classes; and workaround compromises are not made in respect to curriculum. Mostly, these are Division 3 schools with strong academic credentials. Portal money is nil, but academic scholarship money may make your day.

Division 1 schools are less likely to allow for the freedom of building a strong academic mentality like that as first priority, whatever they might say to the contrary. The athlete may have to make compromises that affect her/his future career goals by what courses can or cannot be accessed. Unless those career goals are to play in the National Football League.

It has taken me some time to realize the benefits and pitfalls of overvaluing Division 1. I am now much more aware of how some overzealous fathers drive this. I am now very aware of how the N.C.A.A Portal provides the means for powering the whole wayward engine. I am much more aware of how choosing a Division 3 school, one with high academic standards and standing, may be so much more preferred, if the purpose is to truly get a deep academic immersion. The college selection process should be about academics: learning to think in complex ways; learning the value of dedication to literature, science, and ideas; and learning how to fashion a fun, lifelong profession out of that.

As the sports’ recruiting process works today, however, and this is not just about college football, it is really difficult to not be distracted.

But, to be able to excel at a sport in college and play it at a competitive level can enrich the academic experience. Kids who are fortunate enough to be able to do both, with academics on lead and sports’ competition to enrich that, are truly lucky. I applaud the mostly Division 3 schools that have kept to this perspective. I frown as I see the departure of many Division 1 schools from it. Though that departure is not a new thing; it has just become so much more prevalent and deep-rooted than it once was.

Universities, like public Libraries, have a mission to educate, first and foremost. Today, by my grandfatherly experience, I have a much clearer vision about how that mission has been distracted by the collegiate businesses of football, basketball, and even lesser moneyed sports such as lacrosse. I see more clearly the need for K-12 and Libraries to help prepare kids for good decision-making, to not be distracted.

College sports, yes, as fun, not as business. Not as distraction from academics.