Academics vs. athletics

This weekend’s homecoming football game painted a beautiful picture of IU, its athletics program and college sports throughout the NCAA. \nFrom the young to the old, the bachelor to the family man, the student to the alumnus, Hoosier nation turned out to support the Crimson and Cream. Even some of the academically inclined, who usually have no interest in IU football, could be found on this one day among the crowd cheering for the Hoosiers. \nHomecoming games have such a unifying effect. However, across the nation, the division between academics and athletics is seen as a growing rift on the university scene.\nAccording to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the NCAA’s Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics found that 62 percent of the more than 2,000 Football Bowl Subdivision faculty members polled claimed that the academic programs were separated from athletics programs in their structures. A major complaint of about 50 percent of faculty members was that the main reason athletic spending occurs is to please the entertainment industry. \nThese are staggering, but not necessarily surprising statistics. Consider that one of the major storylines running during this weekend’s Homecoming game was that it’s the only IU game to be carried by ESPN, the nation’s foremost viewed sports entertainment network, so far this season. \nAnd what could be seen in several shots on the network on Saturday afternoon? The construction of the North End Zone project that will cost the University an estimated $55 million upon its completion.\nAcademics at FBS schools have a legitimate right to complain. Athletic spending can and will inevitably be detrimental to pure academic achievement and the advancement of every one of a given university’s academic goals. Members of the IU academia might even have a greater reason for protest than those at most institutions at the moment as, in addition to the above mentioned $55 million dollar expenditure, the board of trustees recently agreed to replace Assembly Hall, a project worth literally hundreds of millions of dollars.\nSpending millions of dollars on athletics will certainly take away from some areas \nof academics.\nHowever, in today’s world of media coverage – and considering the public’s unwavering attention on athletic achievement – it is also certain that athletics spending might be necessary for the continued success of higher education institutions. In the same Knight Commission report, half of the respondent faculty also believed that athletic success led to contributions by alumni for programs not related to athletic programs.\nIt seems that athletics and academics have a natural opposition to each other that will long be debated at major universities. Academic goals should always and without fail be mentioned first. Their fulfillment is the reason such institutions exist. \nHowever, since athletics are so close to the hearts of screaming fans and alumni at FBS schools, concentration on athletic spending should not necessarily be seen as the bane of academic existence. \nMaybe $55 million is a little much. But if IU reaps dividends in the form of major donations above and beyond that in the coming years, it might be a sacrifice that \nis worthwhile.