Thursday, October 23, 1997
Student athletes deserve more credit
ATHLETICS: Critics wrong in assessment of tutoring program,
graduation rate
By J. Brian Willmer
This letter is in response to the Oct. 3 article "Athletes often
fail to graduate" by Traci Mack. The article was particularly
disturbing to me for a number of reasons. First, the author failed
to properly research the life of an athlete for answers as to why
graduation rates are so low; instead she relied upon the testimony
of a woman who admits to having lied.
Second is the issue of why athletes don’t attain degrees with
the special assistance they receive. As an athlete, I will give you
information from the inside looking out, not the outside looking
in.
The first question addressed is why do athletes graduate at such
low rates when they receive more assistance than the rest of us?
I’m not going to debate that the graduation numbers for athletes
are extremely below what they should be. It is obvious that the
student athlete has often failed to graduate for various reasons,
one of them being the option to leave early for a professional
career.
In the past several decades, society has become enamored of the
success of athletics in large part because of the revenue
collegiate sports brings in. Collegiate sports are no longer
amateur events. The athletes have begun thinking about making money
themselves, which often will mean a sacrifice of the degree.
Turning professional should not be a reason for failing to
finish school, but often it is. And often professional athletes
live under a great deal of uncertainty and with pressure to help
their family and friends by going pro. They often feel that they
never really fit in at school because they are always stereotyped
as the dumb jock. If you tell someone something enough times, they
start to believe it.
But, what Mack failed to mention is that many professionals
return to school to finish their degrees. Bo Jackson, Emmit Smith
and Juwan Howard have done that, to name a few. I know this still
does not account for why the numbers are so low, but it does
provide another variable that was never examined in the
article.
Mack also failed to acknowledge that outside variables affect
the student athlete’s performance. Many athletes who enter
universities would have never gotten there on their own. Unlike
students who come in academically prepared, the athlete has to
learn to perform among peers who have achieved more academic
success prior to college than the athlete.
That can be intimidating, often so much that the athlete can
lose confidence in his ability to perform in the classroom. I was
one of the fortunate athletes who learned quickly that I was just
as intelligent as other students because many people around me
believed I could achieve academic and athletic success here.
Unfortunately, many athletes come from lower-income families
that placed no emphasis on college and didn’t provide the necessary
preparation for the athlete to succeed academically. We take those
athletes and throw them into a lion’s den and expect them to
succeed under a microscope. It is particularly interesting that few
people mention that 20 percent of UCLA students don’t graduate
(that is a "B-" average at a school that prides itself as being an
"A" university) but that is not really important because what we
would rather see is why another athlete fails.
It is a fact that athletes do receive assistance. It is crucial
to success in their sports and academics. Many people believe the
assistance athletes receive is some type of magical wand that will
solve every problem. This is a misconception the public has about
the assistance athletes receive.
Assistance comes from meetings with guidance counselors that are
available in Murphy Hall to every student. Tutoring services are
offered to assist in the athlete’s progress. For many athletes,
especially freshmen, tutoring is crucial because mornings are
devoted to weight-lifting, physical rehabilitation and class
(athletes must use priority enrollment because of their schedules).
Then, after class, there are practices that end at 6:30 p.m. By the
time an athlete eats, it is time for tutoring, which is for an hour
a week. I believe that tutoring is offered to every student through
AAP and other tutoring organizations, but no one takes advantage of
these programs.
Elizabeth Grove’s allegation that tutors provide answers is
particularly disheartening. I have never been in a tutoring session
where I have heard about a tutor giving out answers that would
appear on the test. The tutors serve to facilitate the athlete in
gaining a better understanding of the material. Since when do we
base our main source of information on a woman who is a liar? But,
I guess this is OK because it provides insight into problems in
athletics, and some love to see athletes fail.
It is a fallacy to think that athletes come here as
athlete-students. Many athletes are disciplined students who take
pride in academics. The difference between athletes and other
students is that athletes not only come into a school like UCLA at
a disadvantage, but they must also deal with the pressures of their
sports too.
How many students deal with the pressure of playing in front of
thousands of people and having the tackle you miss or the ball you
drop featured on TV and in the newspaper? The reporters ask how you
feel after a dropped touchdown pass or missed field goal. How many
students the following night can’t sleep because their bodies hurt
so bad and they can’t get the game out of their minds, and all on
their one day off to study and write the papers assigned for class?
What about the athlete who has to deal with an injury that could
end his career or set him back for months or years? Try studying
and concentrating with these thoughts.
Oh, and athletes don’t have the luxury of taking 4 or 8 units a
quarter if their classes are hard. They must take 12 units to be
eligible to compete.
Yes, this is part of the price you pay to be a college athlete.
In no way do athletes want sympathy; we have chosen to do what we
do because we love it. We know that it requires sheer discipline to
achieve success on the field and in the classroom. The students who
feel that athletes are undeserving of a few special privileges are
more than welcome to come to Spaulding Field and spend a week with
the football team or practice with any other athletic team.
Athletes have more pressure and stress to deal with than regular
students, so they should be examined in a different light. I hope
the next time an article like this is written, the author takes
time to interview the people who make up college athletics: the
"athletes." I hope this sheds some light on the life of an athlete
and opens some of your eyes to some of the variables that affect
athletics.
In the last two years, the UCLA football team has graduated two
men with Master’s degrees, and this spring I will also graduate
from UCLA with a Master’s degree. This spring, my football class of
1993 will graduate at a rate of over 80 percent. I know that I and
a great number of athletes have not forgotten the "student" in
"student athlete."