Misaligned motives

In 12th-century Persia, Omar Khayyam, a scholar well versed in the social and biological sciences and one who contemporary scholars have named “the philosopher of the world,” wrote the following lines in the “Rubaiyat”:

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.

Khayyam’s legacy and words speak to the importance and difficulty of contemporary social reform amid adversity. These words have encouraged me to depict a problem prevalent in the university setting today, one in which sports triumph more than academics.

And when I refer to sports, I refer to much more than athletic competition. I mean to say, those things that trivialize the academic experience.

The case is particularly acute at our own university. The latest rankings from Princeton Review named IU the 14th “best” party school in the nation.  Moreover, according to the IDS, Playboy placed Nick’s English Hut in the top 10 college bars in the U.S.  And who can forget that just last year, seven IU females were selected to debut in Playboy’s “Big Ten” issue? 

Sadly, this is just one side of the issue.  The highest-paid employee of Indiana University-Bloomington is the basketball coach, Tom Crean, who is apportioned a base salary of $600,000 – which does not factor in added benefits like endorsements or two “late model” automobiles for his personal use.

Now, compare this to the mission statement of IU; “... to create, disseminate, preserve, and apply knowledge,” and you will see precisely what type of problem valuing sports more than school creates.  It is nothing else but a near complete abandonment of educational prerogatives.

I am arguing that institutions of higher learning serve, first and foremost, to educate young men and women about themselves and their individual responsibility as members of our collective society. The university should strive to inspire young graduates to further their academic and intellectual pursuits well beyond their graduation date. 

This does not mean that sports should not be a relevant part of a university education, which comes through social interactions and extra-curricular activities. 

But this outlet  becomes a problem when it defines and encapsulates the typical college experience, endowing fewer and fewer graduates with a life-long love for knowledge and desire for inner growth and improvement.  And when these very individuals play a part in the construction (or deconstruction) of our country and society, the problem acquires a more somber and melancholy tone.

Unfortunately, this problem is not so easily solved within the walls of the university itself. What we need is an attitude adjustment, a fundamental change in the culture of contemporary American society – a society whose claim to offer the best educational experience in the world may be more convincing in rhetorical form.

We should spend more time coming to terms with the reality of education today and less time trying to pretend that nothing is wrong. This starts by openly acknowledging how the young people in our country are trailing behind other nations in intellectual aptitude and capacity.

Change might not be solved within the college setting itself, but it’s at least a place to start.