A typical day for most college students may be a few lectures, a discussion, and a whole lot of homework. But for a select few, a typical day includes the lectures and the homework, as well as a nationally televised championship game or a rigorous 6 a.m. practice.
College athletes must keep demanding schedules at most universities across the nation.
Ivy league graduates William Bowen and Sarah Levin recently conducted a study on the universities in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, known as NESCAC. Bowen and Levin published their findings in the book “Reclaiming The Game: College Sports and Educational Values”, debuting this week by Princeton University Press.
In their book, Bowen, a former Princeton president, and Levin, a 2000 graduate of Harvard University and an All-American sailor, claim some athletes are falling behind their classmates and separating themselves academically and socially. Bowen and Levin trace this rift through a number of areas, such as high-school academic performance, choice of major and college academic performance.
The NESCAC schools, nine of which are Ivy League, all count athletics as a significant part of campus life. But most offer no athletic scholarships to recruited athletes and are classified as Division III schools, unlike other big-time athletic universities, such as the Division I athletics at the University of Wisconsin. Bowen and Levin found that athletes in the NESCAC tend to pick the social sciences and business majors; 56 percent of recruited male athletes at Ivy League schools decided on these academic disciplines, while only 34 percent of the entire male student population at these universities declared these majors. Bowen and Levin also argue that heavily recruited athletes account for as much as 25 percent of incoming classes in NESCAC, and they receive a considerable advantage in admissions over more-qualified students.
With the pressures of big-time athletics being placed on athletes at Division I schools such as UW, the transition between student and athlete can become easier with the right time-management skills. With some athletic teams practicing until as late as 11:30 p.m., finding the time to do homework can prove difficult.
“I definitely have to get all of my homework finished before practice,” Brittany Guynn, a wing player and driver for the water polo team, said. “I spend a lot more time at the library than I normally would.”
Organizations such as the Student Athlete Advisory Board and the Champs Life Skills Program attempt to intertwine the academic, athletic and social aspects of a student athlete’s lifestyle. SAAB showcases a representative from every sport offered at UW and discusses common issues that each sport may face.
The Champs Life Skills Program, sponsored by the NCAA, delivers guest speakers for athletes on many nationwide issues that plague every college student, not solely athletes, such as date rape and alcohol abuse.
“Many of our athletes come from far places and are away from their parents for the first time,” UW Associate Athletic Director for Communications Steve Malchow said. “It’s a lot of pressure being heaped on them because athletics are a very visible way to see the university.”
Malchow is quick to stress that academic performance is an equal part of the college experience, though.
“It’s a cooperative effort between academics and athletics, and if you don’t complete the academic side, there is no athletic side, either,” he said.
Malchow also acknowledged the pressure that many athletes face due to the high profile of university athletics, but emphasizes the scope of the campus as a whole. “There is a lot of focus on how many games we win, but athletics here at the UW is just so much more than that,” he said.
