The Inception Of The Student-Athlete
The 1950s brought the end of racial segregation in public schools, peace in Korea, and the inception of the term “student-athlete” (Bradley). For decades universities have had conflicts with notion of a student who is also an interscholastic athlete. Though many team sports at the collegiate level began as student-run clubs (Ivy League colleges as the forbearers), universities eventually caught on to the financial possibilities that these sports possessed (Branch). During the early 20th century colleges would recruit individuals to play for their scholastic teams, primarily football, whether-or-not these individuals were students. As an incentive, schools would also pay these individuals under the table. But this pay-to-play scheme contained cracks.
In 1939, the underclassmen of the University of Pittsburgh’s football team went on strike. What was their reason? The upperlassmen on the team were paid for their participation on the team while the underclassmen were not (The Cartel). The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) viewed this strike with fear and understood the complications of paying student-athletes. As a result of further conflicts, universities devised a new incentive for students, one that removed the desire for players to seek financial compensation. Universities began to offer scholarships that would pay for these students’ education, room and board, and other services. This scholarship program spread from university to university and to ensure that these students would not be eligible for payment, the NCAA embedded the term “student-athlete” within its rules and regulations. The NCAA has since then used the term in and out of courtrooms as their major defense tool to avoid workman-like compensation to student-athletes. These individuals are viewed not completely as students, for their scholarship was awarded for their athletic merit, yet they also not seen as athletes, for that would invoke a sense of professionalism or employment. Possibly one of the most notorious uses of the “student-athlete” defense occurred in 1974 when Texas Christian University running-back Kent Waldrep snapped his neck, instantly paralyzing him, in a game against the University of Alabama. The then 19-year-old Waldrep faced a barrage of medical bills and treatment for years after the incident, but TCU only paid for nine months of treatment (The Cartel). The university claimed that Waldrep was a student-athlete and not a school employee. And as a result of being a student-athlete, Waldrep was not entitled to worker’s compensation. Waldrep has regained some upper body mobility but continues to use a wheelchair. Player unionization is not simply an attempt to receive financial compensation. These students are attempting to gain protection that every American employee gains under the Workmen's Compensation Act. Currently the NCAA reports revenues of nearly 11 billion dollars, a value greater than the estimated total league revenues of both the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League (Edelman). Though Universities may state that these students are not employees and that they play for the love of their respective sport, these students are the driving force for such an astounding revenue value. - Gabriel Rojas |
Ramogi Huma, President of the National College Players Association (NCPA), quickly speaks of the lack of scholastic merit that many Division-One student-athletes exhibit.
Kent Waldrep recounts the day of his life changing incident.
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The University Of North Carolina Scandal
A copy of a rough draft written by an unnamed UNC student-athlete for a "paper" class. The student received an A- for the final draft of this essay (Weissmann).
Mary Willingham, UNC whistleblower.
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Unfortunately not the first case of ill-prepared students accepted into a university by the means of special admission, the UNC scandal is possibly the most atrocious. In 2006, the university began to reconstruct its athletics department, mainly focused on the the lackluster football program. A new head coach was hired, Kenan Memorial Stadium was scheduled for a 70 million dollar remodeling, and a major recruitment scheme was formed (Branch). With this change in the attitude of the football program came complications.
Mary Willingham was a learning specialist at the time and has consistently demonized UNC's actions. The influx of new recruits drew an unseen number of student-athletes seeking tutors such as herself. As a result, a large number of independent studies courses, "paper classes," arose. In these independent studies courses, students would simply write one essay for the semester. Ms. Willingham has on the record stated, "100 percent of the time, [these papers were] graded A's or B's," and that she "didn't want anything to do with it because no learning was taking place, " (Lyall). After an investigation by Raleigh Newspaper reporter Dan Kane, it was found that many of the paper schedules offered at UNC came from the African and Afro-American Studies Department. Julius Nayang'oro, the department chair at the time, has been noted for accepting bribes from students, conducting "200 questionable classes" and more than 500 instances of unauthorized grade alterations in his department. Nayang'oro has resigned and is currently facing indictment for academic fraud (Lyall). The term student-athlete has been has forever been crafted for the benefit of the university with the intent to only serve and protect the university. After decades of its use, colleges have removed the student from the student-athlete title and have decided to hand out degrees with the promise of an education. But this promise is a lie. Though degrees may be handed out in the case that student-athletes do complete their schooling, these degrees are not handed with a meaningful education. At this point, student-athletes are not students if they're not given a proper education. If the NCAA decides to label these individuals as students, they should be given the same rigor and challenge as their peers. If not, these student-athletes should not be given the title student and hence be considered as players. And as players they must be considered as employees of the school and be eligible for unionization. - Gabriel Rojas |