Considerable media coverage around the area this month has been devoted to perceived rifts between two factions of the University: the athletic side and the academic side.
In a letter signed by 92 tenured faculty recently, biology professor Nathan Tublitz and English professor James Earl questioned the University’s priorities, with academic funds dwindling and athletic budgets soaring. Tublitz and Earl cited athletic director Bill Moos’ $2 million buyout and the $4 million learning center “solely for athletes” as examples of the “deeply troubling” funding for athletics at the “expense of academics.”
And even more recently, professors griped about the 2007 Civil War football game against Oregon State being rescheduled to the Saturday of “dead week,” or the week prior to final exams.
“There are academic priorities that are being snuffed out here,” art history professor Richard Sundt told the Emerald. “We have this escalation constantly.”
The one aspect of the relationship between athletics and academics that too often gets forgotten in the back-and-forth tussle between the two is how much both truly need each other to survive.
Firstly, athletics don’t hamper the educational experience. In fact, I’d argue, quite the opposite. If students are serious about their education, they’ll succeed in the classroom regardless of whether or not a game is played on Saturday of “dead week.”
Secondly, to address the professors’ letter, while I understand the frustration in the lack of funding on the academic side, I do not believe Oregon’s self-sufficient athletic department is to blame.
There’s no doubt we live in an athletics-hungry world where sports programs at schools across the country have turned into big businesses. According to the letter from Tublitz and Earl, Oregon’s athletic budget is now at a staggering $41.5 million. Most other major athletic departments around the country experienced similar growth spurts – ones much larger than the academic side experienced.
But with athletic success comes increased donor contributions and increased press coverage for the school – hardly compromising academics. And Oregon is one of the country’s few self-supporting athletic departments, meaning it takes no money from the University, which neither Oregon State nor Portland State can attest to.
Additionally, and not coincidentally, enrollment at this University took a sharp hike when athletic teams achieved success.
I know that for me, athletics and academics together played a huge part in my coming here. And I know many other “Duck fans” who chose Oregon not solely for their beloved sports teams, but also for the quality education provided here.
At the same time, with many pointing to the dwindling academic funding and professor salaries – a travesty indeed – while athletic budgets soar, the University still provides a quality education, as I can certainly attest to after what I deem three satisfying years in the journalism school.
But the journalism school wasn’t all that tempted me to spend my collegiate career at Oregon. I needed something more that could tie me to the institution, something that I could really get attached to and enjoy. That, for me, and countless other students, was quality college athletics. The chance to enjoy, and even cover, Oregon football games in Autzen Stadium or join in the excitement in The Pit at McArthur Court was something I greatly wanted to experience.
The fact that I had the opportunity to do that and simultaneously obtain a quality education made my college decision, well, relatively easy.
Students at Oregon are very fortunate to have the opportunity to gain a quality education while enjoying high-quality athletics as well, something many students never experience.
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