WEEK AFTER week, University students either laud the accomplishments or scowl at the failures of our men's basketball and football teams with quick tongues. We comment on their progress and work ethic, or lack thereof, in the campus paper with great ease. Most of us walk amongst them gawking at their heights or massive sizes in between classes as if they are the eighth wonders of the world. Some of us even get so swept up in the pride for the University that we begin setting up tents outside University Hall to ensure seats at a game.
Although athletes represent a large sporting tradition and serve as enormous sources of revenue, often we take these students for granted and don't treat them like students at all. How many of us can say that we have ever paid close attention to the activities and academic accomplishments of these young men inside of the classroom, as we do many with so many of our peers? Both students and professors look at these student athletes as one-dimensional figures incapable of intelligent conversation or an 'A' paper. What student athletes must do is take a look at themselves and evaluate what their role is at this University -- who it is they are really serving and what they can do to get the best out of their college experience.
Much of the attention student-athletes on the high-profile squads receive is critical in nature. Whether it be commentary on off-the-field brawls, spotlighting in honor cases or about pitching fits and missing practices, the lives of these men are scrutinized to a large degree. Granted, the football and basketball squads receive much attention from academic tutors, trainers and coaches -- but we should ask how much of that attention reinforces the incorrect notion that they are here only to perform athletically, and not academically as well?
There is a profound reason why few of our male athletes are as stellar at speaking eloquently to a captive audience of their peers as they are at rushing down the field for yards or scoring a lay-up. Many of their practices and schedules keep them far out of the academic realm, and much of their preparedness for the classwork that the University shells out is disproportionately low. Tutoring assistance and study hall can only help so much when you are faced with the weight room, drills and practices day after day.
With so many practices, and with such a strong focus given them by the media, it's no wonder that they are criticized for their athletics and marginalized for their intellects. How many support systems can we say are truly present to help athletes deal with issues of identity, communication skills and academics -- all while living life under a microscope at the University?
The majority of us wouldn't dispute that the reason why we are present on this campus is to gain access to a higher education. On the other hand, to the athletes playing on our most high-profile teams-, college must not be the same kind of academic place as it is for the rest of us. The majority of these athletes are not valued for their intellect, but only for their playing abilities. They are perceived only as commodities of the talent they may or may not express on the court on a weekly basis. Many of us see them as machines that are supposed to work in the name of the University: running, jumping, catching, throwing and scoring as if that's all they are here to do. When they don't perform on the court or on the field, they become valueless to the University and to their fellow students as well.
This kind of perception affects them, even if they say it doesn't. Athletes often get carried away with their egos when they walk around Grounds, while on the other hand, many of them often feel like they can't keep up with the academic pacing of the University.
To begin to combat this giant weight against them, student athletes need to begin to present themselves as something more than just cash commodities for the University. When all is said and done, the vast majority of them won't be playing in any professional athletic arena, so reality has to kick in faster and much, much earlier. Student athletes need to learn how to get the most out of the environment as athletes and as students. Athletes need to understand that they are much more than athletes at a University and could mean more to the academic community than just catalysts for our cheering sections at the game. The University is supposed to provide them with an education that will expand their horizons beyond the single avenue of professional sports -- and if that's not clear, then student-athletes should take the initiative to make that clear.
Student athletes should take a note from Tiki Barber or Thomas Jones, or even more recently, from student-athletes like Butch Jefferson and Stan Norfleet. Be as involved in the community and in your academic growth at this University, as you are in your athletic growth. In the end, you'll find that the league you're in is much more promising than any athletic one around.
(Kazz Alexander Pinkard's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at kpinkard@cavalierdaily.com.)
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