March 2001: Vol. 80, No. 2March 2001: Vol. 80, No. 2College athletics is a presidential matter
 Michael F. Adams |
n 1993, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics issued "A New Beginning for a New Century: Intercollegiate Athletics in the United States."
That report addressed a host of problems that threaten the integrity of college athletics and the institutions the athletes represented. The Knight Commission proposed a greater level of presidential oversight of athletics, specifically calling for presidential control directed toward academic integrity, financial integrity, and independent certification. Such a model, the Commission believed, would serve as a road map for athletics reform.
I am convinced that the road map provided by the Knight Commission is leading us where we want to go, and I have served for the past year as a member of the second Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, which will issue a report this summer.
While there was no overt crossover in my recent decisions on football and men's basketball coaches here, there probably are some areas where my service on the Knight Commission and my work as president of the University of Georgia do come together. The issue of the financial arms race in college sports, with spiraling coaches' salaries, increasing commercialism, and the influence of television is of prime concern to all of us in college and university administration. The main point we have to remember is that college athletics, the kind that draws 86,000 fans to Sanford Stadium, must be a part of, not an adjunct to, the University.
I know one SEC president who now meets with his athletic department leadership on a monthly basis, and on occasion those meetings have been held without the athletic director in the room. Is that too much institutional control? Is that president meddling in the affairs of the athletic department? I think he's doing what he believes is best for the institution—as well he should.
The recent excesses of college athletics—poor graduation rates in some sports, under-prepared student-athletes, out-of-control coaches salaries, off-the-field disciplinary problems—are serving as a wakeup call for many of my colleagues at America's colleges and universities. I believe—and I think I speak for most of those who serve with me on the Knight Commission—that we have to pay close attention in the coming years to three areas of college athletics, lest we find ourselves with quasi-professional sports events taking precedence over collegiate amateurism.
First, we must establish meaningful academic standards for student-athletes. When I was young, my parents were very clear: I couldn't play baseball with my friends until my schoolwork was finished. That's a system of priorities that seems to be slipping away in the high-profile world of college athletics today. Sports should be an adjunct to the academic enterprise, not the focus. Less than one-tenth of one percent of all college athletes will ever cash a single check as a professional athlete, so they must have a bona fide college education to fall back on.
The standards for admitting athletes to institutions of higher learning should be such that a student-athlete has a reasonable chance for success. We make those estimates in the regular admissions process, with reasonably high precision; we can and should do the same for athletic admissions. Kids will rise to the occasion; Proposition 48 taught us that.
Second, in collegiate athletics, the academic side of the house must drive the sports equation. In a conflict between academics and athletics, academics wins. No questions asked. That means not starting basketball games at 9:30 on weeknights. It means not playing football on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday nights.
Third, collegiate athletics must not be a purely commercial activity. I say that because the prevalence of corporate logos in college sports is troubling to me. Creeping commercialism has left us with shoe contracts worth more than an English professor's salary, and I wonder where it's all leading. We're moving too close to the precipice of commercial excess, and we should step back before the ground beneath us crumbles away.
The University of Georgia has won more national championships in the past four years than it did in the previous 100 years of athletic competition. That doesn't happen without top-to-bottom support and an institutional commitment to excellence. Winning at this level takes talented student-athletes, strong and principled coaches, and support from the administration. I'm proud to say we have all those at the University of Georgia.
I'll be there at Sanford Stadium on Sept. 1 when we tee it up against Arkansas State. I love watching baseball at Foley Field. I've marveled at our gymnasts and swimmers, and have been there when we won tennis championships. But I also know that athletics is intended to support the educational mission of this place. That's my guiding principle, and I think it's the right one.
