choof.org

September 21, 2003

A Trend in College Football?

Gordon Gee, Chancellor of Vanderbilt, explains why he is revamping the institution's athletic department with "a new body that is more connected to the mission of the university and more accountable to the institution's academic leadership. We'll no longer need an athletic director. We're not eliminating varsity sports, mind you, or relinquishing our membership in the highly competitive Southeastern Conference. Rather, we're making a clear statement that the 'student-athlete' -- a term invented decades ago when college sports was faced with another seemingly endless parade of scandals -- belongs back in the university." Part of this might be motivated by a claim that Rick Telander made in The Hundred Yard Lie: that in many cases, college football is a money drain, and actually does not support other programs, as it is often reputed to do. At Vandy, football directly drains the academic resources, affecting student-to-faculty ratios. For a variety of other reasons, some colleges, including Swarthmore, have decided to drop football.

Posted by chris at September 21, 2003 03:42 PM