In Response...

To Sarah’s question, when I think of student athlete’s,I immediately assume them to be less than average students simply because of the fact that they are athlete’s, and most of them were accepted to this school because of it, not because they are stellar students. Given that, and my devastating lack of athletic ability, I give them props for using their athletic talents to afford them the opportunity to get an education, and being able to do both at once. I feel that the majority of students think that the athlete’s are doing exactly what they wish they could be doing, playing a sport, and skating by through school. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has heard of athlete’s passing classes simply because they play a sport and represent the school, so I would venture to say there is a toss up between how people feel about athletes, some are probably jealous, others angry, but most accepting the system that caters to them for what it is.


To address the question Katie raised " is that because students of color have been told they can succeed only through athletics and have never been encouraged to place an emphasis on academics?" I’d like a to draw upon personal experience. Given that I am a student of color, and like Katie said most of the diversity around here comes from the athletics, in my 4 ½ years here, during all but maybe 2 semesters I have been approached by at least 1 teacher, asking me if I am a student athlete, and will be missing any classes, or if there are any forms they need to fill out so that I can play whatever sport I am supposedly here for. Clearly this was done based purely on my race because I have never given any indication that I was an athlete, or presented myself in a way that one could assume that I was.

When this first occurred I assumed the teacher was ignorant and wrote it off as simply that, but as it continued, I too wondered if students of color, particularly athletes have been told that the only way the could succeed is through athletics. Clearly, those professors who approached me in such a manner hold this to be true, otherwise they would not have asked me so non-chalantly, or at all for that matter. And if this is the case, the fact that our educators are using that mentality to judge or perceive their students, in one way or another I’m sure this is translated to the students of color, who do feel the only way to succeed is through athletics, and that’s why a majority of them are students of color (although I know there are probably more that play into that fact), at least that’s how I felt after being asked that numerous times. This too could explain why student athletes come to rely on tutors or tutoring programs to succeed academically, because in doing so, they are allowed to play sports, the one thing that have been successful at and the reason why the more "high-risk" ones are here getting an education.


Personally, because of my experiences, I have shied away from being associated with students athletes partly because I feel that people will assume that I am one, and given that, am not here based on my academic merits, but my athletic ability. Had I not had this experience, I don’t know what my answer to this question would be. I do however feel that student athletes are some of the hardest working students here, who’s priorities/obligations differ greatly from everyone else, and because of that, I do think it is a great that they have the opportunity to have access to tutors, and additional academic assistance to help with the daily load they have to carry. Further, if they didn't have this programming, they may not make grades, we wouldn’t have reputable sports teams, the school would make no money, etc.

Chuck’s question, of whether or not they will use what we learned for their future papers, I can honestly say that I thought we had a pretty positive experience with the two girls that came in together. We broke down exactly how to write a successful thesis and paper pretty clearly and it seemed as if they were getting it and understood what we were saying, so I’d like to think they will use those concepts and ideas we gave them.

For my own question, I’m still thinking of something I’d like to know from our experience, or each others responses, so I’ll get back to ya!