Oregon’s most recent campus construction project (excluding the Matthew Knight Arena), a new tutoring center for student-athletes, is beginning to take shape across Agate Street from Oregon Hall. The project’s detractors have been vocal, from the students living in the northern end of Hamilton Complex woken up by construction to the University’s critics, who see the project as a continuation of the perverse influence Oregon athletics has over Oregon academics.
Inevitably, the debate boils down to one all-important question: What do student-athletes deserve?
This is especially difficult when we consider that Oregon student-athletes are asked to devote several hours each day to their sport while maintaining a respectable grade-point average, working toward a degree and developing relationships with their peers. For many young fans, Oregon student-athletes represent initial exposure to the school itself. Many have the benefit of a full athletic scholarship, but all are affected by the demands of their sports in ways normal students just cannot relate to. This is where backlash can occur.
The debate toward student-athlete privileges has shifted of late to the subject of pay. Simply put, some believe that student-athletes should receive a stipend from the athletic department as compensation for the effort put in to generate revenue for the school. Some believe that an academic scholarship is payment enough. I am one of those people, but I’m not here to formally end this debate.
I’m here to suggest an alternative.
I hereby propose the formation of a new student group on campus called the Associated Student-Athletes of the University of Oregon. The ASAUO will have 17 representatives, one representing each Oregon sport according to gender (cross country is to be lumped in with track and field, but men’s and women’s track each gets a representative) and two additional representatives, who can be from any sport. The ASAUO will officially answer to the University administration but will work together with the athletic department. Oregon does have a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee already in place, but my group would be more involved with the department’s administrative duties.
ASAUO members will be given a certain amount of power in determining the athletic department’s budget, marketing plans, and personnel hires (specifically, athletic director and coaching positions). They will attempt to mesh students’ concerns with student-athletes’ concerns and create a more comfortable environment within Oregon athletics for all participants, from fans to athletes. And yes, they will receive a stipend for their efforts, in addition to their scholarship.
The ASAUO’s formation would be of great use to the University administration, which has to realize that an athletic department, by its very nature, cannot operate with total independence from its academic counterpart. There must be communication and oversight for each program to achieve the desired goals. Financial independence from the University for the athletic department is an encouraging notion but one that cannot be taken as an official divorce from the academic branch.
A powerful student group could help to rejuvenate – or, depending upon where your opinion lies, restore – the culture of student-athletes living up to the first part of the term. They will engage in an active dialogue concerning all facets of administration and better understand their roles within the University.
From a marketing and recruiting standpoint, the athletic department could see great benefits. Who better to ask how to market the product than the product itself? Why should we trim one sport’s budget to benefit another? Who is best fit to lead, say, Oregon women’s golf into the next decade? All of Oregon’s student-athletes are here for the same basic reasons: to get an education and to play the sport they love at a high level of intercollegiate competition. If they all didn’t want to be here, they would transfer. They have an understanding of what works and what doesn’t, and what sort of guidance they need to succeed in all facets.
Oregon coaches, in turn, could use the ASAUO as a potential draw for recruits: Not only can you get an education and play your sport, but you can help run the show and influence decisions.
Which brings me to the student-athletes themselves. With an additional stipend and the potential to influence key decisions, this shouldn’t be too hard of a sell, but let me stress how important this sort of experience could be for student-athletes. To borrow what’s becoming an overused line, thousands of student-athletes will go pro in something other than sports. But it’s entirely conceivable to see a fraction of that population become involved with an athletic department, and this sort of on-the-job administrative training is difficult to reproduce elsewhere.
Last year, I met a running back on the football team who was majoring in political science. His goal, he told me, was to become an athletic administrator if a pro career wasn’t in his future. This opportunity could conceivably be his chance.
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