More than 35 percent of the black male undergraduates attending the University receive athletic scholarships, according to an analysis conducted by the Emerald. This percentage is the highest among all ethnic groups on campus, and it is the second-highest percentage of any ethnic group receiving such support at a Pacific-10 Conference school in 2002-03.
The percentage of black males receiving financial support from the Athletic Department is more than five times higher than any other ethnic group — the next highest being black females, at nearly 6.6 percent. Within the Pac-10, only Oregon State University has a higher percentage of black males attending school on either full or partial athletic scholarships.
According to some students, such statistics only perpetuate stereotypes of “athletes,” not “student-athletes,” while some faculty members say the numbers illustrate the grossly negligent attitude of a university not concerned with diversity issues.
“This University hasn’t done a good job recruiting students of color, across the board,” Ethnic Studies Director Shari Huhndorf said. “That’s really the only space — virtually the only space — the University opens to black men.”
Of those receiving financial support from the Athletic Department, 46 men identified themselves as black. According to the registrar’s office, 130 African American undergraduate men attend the University.

“The numbers are speaking for themselves, in my opinion,” said sophomore Kennasha Roberson, co-director of the Black Student Union. “What do they want them here for? To get degrees, or to play football?”
But University officials point to a low black population statewide as the main reason athletes make up more than one-third of black males on campus.
“In 2001, 303 total high school seniors (in Oregon) who identified as African American took the SAT,” Multicultural Admissions Assistant Director Tomas Hulick-Baiza said. “Granted, Oregon’s African American population is already small, but with only 303 students eligible for admission to state institutions, you can imagine the significant obstacles (Oregon University System) schools have in helping this population get to college.”
According to statistics from the 2000 census, Oregon has 55,662 black individuals — or 1.6 percent of the population. These numbers are dramatically lower than those of Arizona, California and Washington, both in terms of total population and percentage of the population.
“The recruitment of students of color is often the most challenging task we face in admissions,” Hulick-Baiza said. “Not because minority students don’t want to go to college — we do — but because both students and universities have to contend with numerous social, political, economic and educational obstacles that make it much more difficult to make it to college. The most basic problems we face in getting underrepresented students into college are not found at the college level, but at much earlier stages of their education.”
The value of a college education isn’t a priority for many black males, members of the Black Student Union said. Some black men grow up wanting to play professional sports or to be recording stars, not to become doctors or lawyers.
But Huhndorf said the University could help remedy the problem by offering courses that pertain to the interests of ethnic minorities, by hiring more faculty of color and by providing more academic scholarships to underrepresented groups.
“This is a university that hasn’t prioritized diversity in terms of academics. There’s absolutely more that can be done,” Huhndorf said. “The University has dragged its feet forever on this issue.”
In May 2001, the University established the Center on Diversity and Community to research and study diversity on campus. Steve Bender, a CODAC member and University law professor, said the group works to evaluate the University on its diversity and on issues that threaten diversity. Bender said he and many other faculty members have been pressing the University to address diversity issues for years, but to no avail.
“The University is obviously aware, and in my opinion, is behind where it should be in addressing these (diversity) issues,” he said.
Bender called the University’s efforts in recruiting students of color “woeful,” and added that he is not surprised by the high percentage of black male athletes.
“That’s about the only way African Americans get admitted to this University — if they play sports,” Bender said.
No other ethnic group at the University receives this level of financial support from the Athletic Department. According to the Emerald’s analysis, black males and black females are the two leading demographics, but less than 4 percent of every other ethnic group receives support from the department.
At other Pac-10 schools, the number of black males receiving financial support from athletic departments varies. Oregon State University ranks highest, with 39.67 percent of black male undergraduates on athletic scholarships. Arizona State University has the lowest percentage of black male athletes, with 13 percent of the population receiving support from its athletic department.
In 2000-01, the most current numbers in the NCAA database, the University of Oregon had the highest percentage of black males on athletic scholarship in the Pac-10. The University also led all Pac-10 schools in 1998-99, and was second in 1999-2000.
Athletic Director Bill Moos points to the high percentage of athletes in the black male population as a positive attribute of an athletic department committed to bringing many ethnicities to campus.
“It’s a feel-good situation for us because a university setting is only enhanced when there is diversity,” Moos said. “It illustrates that the Intercollegiate Department of Athletics is a very good source for providing diversity to the campus.”
Many of the black male athletes at the University are members of the football and basketball teams, Moos noted. In fact, more than 75 percent of black male athletes attending the University play football.
“We want to bring the best student-athletes possible to Oregon, regardless of their race,” Moos said.
Jon Entine, an Emmy-winning producer for ABC and NBC news and a journalism instructor at Miami University in Ohio, put forth a controversial theory in 2000 suggesting that physiological traits enable blacks to succeed in particular sports.
Entine’s book, titled “Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We’re Afraid to Talk About It,” was not accepted as fact, however. Work ethic and social agents were seen by many to be more likely reasons for black athletic superiority, while others rejected Entine’s book because it was based on anecdotal research.
From his studies, Entine concluded that individuals of West African descent have a higher proportion of fast-twitch muscles and less body fat, making them more capable of succeeding in sports such as track and field, basketball and football — the same three sports all black male scholarship athletes compete in here at the University.
“The highest concentration of black athletes are in these three sports,” Entine said. And because of their biology, Entine said black males will often be overrepresented in both professional and intercollegiate athletics.
Moos said the Athletic Department works very hard to mainstream student-athletes into the overall population of the student body. Nonetheless, rumors sometimes circulate about the athlete who doesn’t show up for tests, and about the star who doesn’t attend class but gives the professor autographed memorabilia.
“(Some may ask) whether or not the ‘token black athlete’ … phrase is a reality on campus. That depends on whether or not you’re inclined to look at an African Am
erican guy and just assume he’s an athlete,” Hulick-Baiza said. “If you do, then you’re creating tokens, not observing them.”
But others disagree.
“The at
hletes kind of keep to themselves,” said junior Mohammed Jalloh, a member of the Black Student Union. “There’s athletes, and then there’s students.”
These generalizations aren’t what athletes or administrators want. But, apparently, it’s what some at the University think of the situation.
Until a change comes about, it’s possible negative stigmas of student-athletes won’t disappear. And while the concerns are all over the spectrum, the solution might just lie somewhere in between.
“I definitely think it needs to change,” Jalloh said. “But will it change? I’m not optimistic.”