A brief response to "Varsity Teams and Athletes Overvalued at Ursinus"

An opinion piece from my old college's student newspaper made waves today. Entitled, "Varsity Teams and Athletes Overvalued at Ursinus," its author Mr. John Parry seeks to characterize Ursinus as "a school for jocks, by jocks," where "student athletes must take responsibility," and, with regard to the importance of varsity sports, "the culture at the top must also change."

As a former student-athlete of the college, I am not so much offended as disappointed by Mr. Parry's broad generalizations regarding athletes and athletics at the school. A liberal education--such as that found at Ursinus--offers many things, but perhaps none is as important today as a humble appreciation of the world's complex and ever-changing nature. Generalizations may help us to make sense of that complexity, but they are no substitute for a thorough grounding in individual cases.

I suppose that my disappointment stems from the fact that as an Ursinus student I feel Mr. Parry should know better than to generalize a large (as he cites, 34% of enrolled students) and diverse portion of the student body, particularly when he admits to having no experience of the challenges with which that large, diverse group must daily contend. And while I do not know Mr. Parry or the circumstances under which he labors, as a student (and now alumni) I know many student-athletes at Ursinus who not only have higher GPAs than him (3.7+), but who also serve(d) the college as leaders of organizations, RA's, EMS personnel, Grizzly columnists, Greek Officers, Student Government officers, or who worked jobs at the Myrin library, Admissions, Wismer, Campus Safety, and yes, the Floyd Lewis Bakes athletics facility. A number of student-athletes also undertake independent and/or honors research, such as I did as a senior in 2010-11. Such pursuits are challenging by themselves, but particularly so when accompanied by the demands of athletic, academic, and other community duties.

I do not mean to personally attack Mr. Parry here, but I do not understand why he would chose to unfavorably label so many members of the Ursinus community simply because they play varsity sports. Many of them are certainly as hard-working and dedicated as him, and decidedly not "in the bottom third of the class" despite the time they spend each day away from academics. Furthermore as a Division III institution Ursinus athletes do not receive scholarships for their services, only the satisfaction of representing their school around the region (and, in the case of that 3.6 average GPA field hockey team, the country), and the experience of working alongside others toward a common goal. I should think given the divisive political environment we currently face that cooperative experiences would be encouraged.

Student-athletes and college varsity athletics are not perfect; in general, too many college athletes are overtrained, suffer major injuries, or fail to strike a wholesome balance between sport and studies. Yet to argue that varsity athletics at Ursinus is "overvalued" simply by virtue of the fact that 34% of the student body participates in it; that 1/4 of the school newspaper is dedicated to covering it; or that nearly as many people follow 'Ursinus Athletics' on Twitter as 'Ursinus College' is just ridiculous. Student-athletes have contributed so much to make Ursinus the inspiring, stimulating, and diverse place it is. I can only hope that future classes will  continue to benefit from the presence of so many dedicated, driven, and vibrant individuals as Ursinus athletics has had the pleasure of helping grow not only as athletes, but also as people.