Athletics and Academics have been "Out of Balance" at Michigan for 90 years . . . and it still turned out OK.

Submitted by M-Dog on
 
Read this quote about comments made by an influential member of the Michigan faculty, regarding the balance between athletics and academics at Michigan:
 
In the Daily and the Ann Arbor News, he already had spoken out against the excesses of college football . . . as for the players themselves . . . only a few did more in class than maintain their eligibility.  Nearly all their time and energy went to the sport. “Their diplomas cover a multitude of intellectual sins.”
 
These comments were made by Sociology Professor Robert Angell on October 11th.  
 
1925.
 
The debate about the balance between athletics and academics at Michigan has been going on for at least 90 years.  Read this excellent article from the Michigan Today alumni publication about two individuals who were so concerned about the imbalance between athletics and academics at Michigan in 1925 that they tried to stop the construction of Michigan Stadium:  http://michigantoday.umich.edu/two-against-football/
 
How did they fare?  A walk down Stadium and Main today tells you how they fared.  Whatever their worst fears were, they were more than realized.  
 
And yet, the most interesting thing is . . . it never really mattered. Michigan was a world-class academic institution in 1925.  In 2014, after 90 uninterrupted years of athletics being "out of balance" with academics, Michigan is . . . still a world-class academic institution. 
 
Whatever academic evils were supposed to transpire by having prominent athletics at Michigan never really occurred.  
 
It's a false choice between having world-class athletics at Michigan and having world-class academics at Michigan.  The strength of one does not inherently dilute the strength of the other.  It's not a zero sum game where one inherently takes away from the other.  
 
Michigan was a world-class academic institution in 1925.  It's still a world-class academic institution in 2014.  And despite misplaced concerns about athletics and academics being out of balance, it will still be a world-class academic institution in the future.
 
MGoBoard
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Blue Indy

December 4th, 2014 at 12:41 PM ^

I agree...  I would even venture to say that prominent athletic programs, when they're competitive and successful, actually have a POSITIVE effect on academics. I'm not sure where one would even start to gather data, but I would hypothesize that a successful football or basketball season increases the amount of incoming applicants for a university, thus allowing that university to be more selective when choosing their student body by increasing the minimum credentials needed to be accepted. 

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M-Dog

December 4th, 2014 at 1:52 PM ^

I suppose it could be true.  I know in my case it made a difference.  I'm not from Michgian, but I had an academic profile at the time that was consistent with what Michigan wanted.  

One of the reasons I was willing to apply to a far away school like Michigan was that I liked the big-time athletics it had.  it was not the main reason, but it was one of the reasons, even though I was a "serious" (graduate) student.  

That's not to say that if I did not apply that someebody else that fit what Michigan wanted would not have filled the slot.  But you have to think that over time, having a larger more rounded base of candidates to choose from makes a difference.

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M-Dog

December 4th, 2014 at 1:50 PM ^

I don't think that academic fraud is necessarily synonymous with big time athletics.  You can have big time athletics and not have fraud.

I do think you can have big time athletics and not have it negatively impact the academics of the University.  The fact the Michgian has had big time athletics for 100 years (to the point that many people viewed them as completely out of control), and yet is still a world-class institution, shows that the two can co-exist.

Nobody is advocating for fraud.  But do I believe that you can have 100,000 people watch the University's football team and pay the football coach $4 million, and still maintian academic excellence?  Yes.  Our own history shows it to be true. 

 

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