ACTA's Must-Reads
« Trouble in paradise? | Main | Lessons from Stevens »
Big-time college athletics and the question of priorities
At a time when a number of colleges and universities have resorted to drastic cost-reducing measures (by higher education standards), such as freezing faculty pay and even cutting entire degree programs, it seems that some big sports programs are being exempted. According to an article in USA Today, many institutions saw large increases in direct college subsidies between 2005 and 2008. Salaries of football coaches have also skyrocketed and some now net several million dollars a year.
While athletics does have a legitimate place in the university, its overemphasis has led some colleges to be "more focused on beer and spectacle than on teaching and learning," in Anne Neal's words. When one reads about the University of Alabama cancelling classes so that students could attend a football championship, or Binghamton University dismissing--then reinstating after an outcry--an adjunct after she revealed having been pressured to grade basketball players more leniently, one begins to wonder: what exactly is the highest priority on our campuses these days?
Posted by Sandra Diaz on January 15, 2010 at January 15, 2010 04:45 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.goactablog.org/blog/mt-tb.cgi/717