In Sperber's book he discusses the negative effect that big-time college athletics has on undergraduate education. He states that undergraduate education is in deep trouble; universities with big-time sports programs are usually research schools where the professors are paid and praised for being good researchers rather than teaching the students. Students are taught by graduate students who do not get paid, and often don' t teach as effectively as a professor. This fuels the party atmosphere that exists on campus' around the nation; if the professor isn't even focused and committed to the class then why should the students? Universities, in turn, set athletics as the center of attention, thinking that simply if the students have their parties and sports they'll be happy. This mentality takes attention off of the academic shortcomings of the institution and gives the students a way to have fun. An institutions inability to supply the students with quality education is masked by the atmosphere of beer and sports. To conclude, Sperber offers a few possible solutions to the problem; cut big-time sports programs to the level of such academically prestigious institutions as Harvard or Yale, make cuts in graduate education so the focus can be on undergrads, and cut back on research programs so that professors are able to actually teach their students rather than a grad student.
Murray Sperber is very knowledgeable on the subject of college sports and high education. He is a professor of English at the University of Indiana, and has published several books on the impact of big-time athletics on the academic community of higher education. Sperber was a chair member of the Drake Group, which was a national faculty committee that advocated the reform of college sports. A very academically centered man, Sperber has seen first hand as a professor, the impact that college sports as on a university as well as its undergraduate students.
Collegiate Culture- consists of students known as collegiate's whose lives consist of sports, partying, and having fun; occasionally studying, but jut enough to get by and graduate.
Academic Culture- students that have a serious academic mentality, they world hard and get the best grades. These students understand the value of education.
"School's try to ascend the academic polls by accumulating faculty who possess or will achieve research fame". (75) -Research universities have professors that focus on their research rather than teaching the students. The students are at a loss academically, so the university tries to make up for this deficit by pumping money into the athletic department to attract future students, and keep current students and faculty happy with the athletic atmosphere of fun and partying.
".....he spent millions of dollars on intercollegiate athletics and proportionally little undergraduate education. As a result the Wildcat football team managed to achieve national fame in the 1990s, and his general undergraduate education programs continued to limp along".(235)- Schools with big-time athletic programs spend increasing amounts of money to fund them, and they are ultimately taking money away from education. To these institutions having a successful athletics program is much more important than having a successful education program, so what is the purpose of paying tuition to just be sports fan?
"The only consistent finical losers are the schools that belong to the NCAA and furnish the stadiums, arenas, and facilities for its operations....the vast majority of colleges and universities do not make money in big-time intercollegiate athletics". (229)- Contrary to popular belief, athletic programs do not make nearly as much money as they consume. So, in the end its the institution in it entirety thats suffering at the expense of the athletics department. The money thats lost has to come from somewhere, and thats money that is being taken away from education.
The material presented in Sperber's book directly supports the focus of my research in every way. He touches on the aspect that college athletics contributes to the "animal house" party culture that is now surrounding higher education. This party atmosphere and the fan mentality is toxic to the learning environment in college institutions, and ultimately there is a decline in the academic culture that was once the basis of college. Sperber brings about the idea that if nothing is done the athletic department will soon run the university, and undergraduate education will be destroyed. We must salvage and rebuild on whatever smidgen of academic community still exists.
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