Marquette Tribune Editorial: Stop Glorifying Athletes

[PaintTouches]

The New York Times ran a fascinating piece on a related, although different, topic.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/education/edlife/how-big-time-sports-ate-college-life.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

It's a double edged sword no matter which way you go about it.

[brewcity77]

I think the single biggest factor for out of state students is the Jesuit/Catholic thing.  That's what brought me from 1500 miles away and I'd venture a guess that the out of state students have a higher percentage that are Catholic or from Catholic high schools than the in-state. Catholic high schools -- especially Jesuit high schools -- send a lot of kids to Jesuit universities.

I'm not saying the basketball program is the main reason people come here. I'm just saying that's the first place many prospective students hear about us. You may go to a Catholic high school 1500 miles away, but when they start showing you options and you see the name Marquette, my bet is most people that follow any amount of sports have at least heard the name in connection with the basketball team.

I'm not at all saying it's going to be the deciding factor, but it may help sway some in our direction over Detroit, Fairfield, San Francisco, or some other far-off Jesuit school.

[Hoopaloop]

Classic Chicos  double post

[Hoopaloop]

Well, if the treatment of the players bothers somebody so much, then yes, I think it can/should influence their college decision.

Put it this way: I knew at 18, that I didn't really like the greek system. Therefore, going to a school that had a huge greek population wasn't a good option for me.

Easy.

How would a high school senior know what the treatment of the players is at a particular school?  It's easy to find out the importance of the greek system of a school as it is generally listed in most college review guides.  I've never seen anything of the sort on how athletes are treated. 

Part of the problem with this discussion is that we are so skewed in our opinions.  The general populace at Marquette doesn't care about athletics like we do and their choosing of a school, MU or any other, is not going to be influenced because a smaller segment of the student population or a bunch of old dudes on a message board follow 18-22 year olds around along with their every move.  If the basketball team was as universally loved by the entire student body like it is here, we would sell out every game.  We would have 10,000 student ticket sales, not 4,500 or whatever the latest number is.   We are in the minority.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

How would a high school senior know what the treatment of the players is at a particular school?  It's easy to find out the importance of the greek system of a school as it is generally listed in most college review guides.  I've never seen anything of the sort on how athletes are treated. 

Part of the problem with this discussion is that we are so skewed in our opinions.  The general populace at Marquette doesn't care about athletics like we do and their choosing of a school, MU or any other, is not going to be influenced because a smaller segment of the student population or a bunch of old dudes on a message board follow 18-22 year olds around along with their every move.  If the basketball team was as universally loved by the entire student body like it is here, we would sell out every game.  We would have 10,000 student ticket sales, not 4,500 or whatever the latest number is.   We are in the minority.

I think it's pretty easy, actually. If at 18, you find yourself really bothered (bothered enough to write an op ed piece) by the attention your high school football and hockey/basketball/lacrosse/soccer/etc. team gets, then you should probably go to a college that doesn't have D1 athletics.

Easy.

I don't expect EVERY MU student to LOVE basketball. I don't even care. I just find it curious that it really bothers some students how the basketball team lives.

The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference.

[forgetful]

I applaud people taking a stance on issues that concern them, but I find it ignorant if people take a stance without getting all the facts write.

The editorial acts as if the sports teams are the only ones that get special consideration in housing, food and studies.

Last I checked, most schools have fraternities, sororities, honors colleges, engineering schools etc that get their own special dorms (often time significantly nicer than anyone else).  They also get their own cafeterias (often inside their own special dorm/housing).  

Also, with fraternities and sororities they have their own study areas complete with archives of tests and papers from the last decade or more of their members.

To act as if athletes at universities are the only ones who get access to these kind of things is ridiculous and to write like it is either means you are ignorant or have an agenda.

[GGGG]

I applaud people taking a stance on issues that concern them, but I find it ignorant if people take a stance without getting all the facts write.

I found this sentence to be funny in an ironic kind of way.

[🏀]

I found this sentence to be funny in an ironic kind of way.

It just doesn't make any cents.

[TallTitan34]

I first heard of Marquette when watching a Bulls game on TV in the early-90's.  They were playing the Bucks at the Bradley Center and I asked my parents why it said Marquette on the court. 

[MU82]

No matter where you live, if you want to go to a Jesuit school, you don't need to go 1500 miles (or more). You've got BC in the northeast, Georgetown in the DC area, San Fran and Gonzaga out west, Loyola of New Orleans in the south, a whole bunch of other choices in various parts of the midwest, etc.

The Jesuit deal is one reason to go to Marquette, as is basketball, as is location in a major metro area, as are the high-ranked programs such as engineering and dentistry, and so on.

I'm not Catholic and didn't know what a Jesuit was when I signed up to go to MU sight-unseen. If not for hoops, I wouldn't have known Marquette even existed. And I don't think I was that rare of a beast.

[StillAWarrior]

No matter where you live, if you want to go to a Jesuit school, you don't need to go 1500 miles (or more). You've got BC in the northeast, Georgetown in the DC area, San Fran and Gonzaga out west, Loyola of New Orleans in the south, a whole bunch of other choices in various parts of the midwest, etc.

The Jesuit deal is one reason to go to Marquette, as is basketball, as is location in a major metro area, as are the high-ranked programs such as engineering and dentistry, and so on.

I'm not Catholic and didn't know what a Jesuit was when I signed up to go to MU sight-unseen. If not for hoops, I wouldn't have known Marquette even existed. And I don't think I was that rare of a beast.

I agree that it's not rare.  All I'm saying is that there are a lot of kids who are Catholic and/or in Catholic/Jesuit High Schools and their college search starts (and ends) with a list of Catholic and/or Jesuit colleges.

I'm not suggesting that there is one way that people end up at Marquette or first hear about Marquette.  I think a lot of kids had a similar experience to mine, just like a lot of other kids had an experience similar to those who first learned about Marquette because of the basketball team.

[Hoopaloop]

I think it's pretty easy, actually. If at 18, you find yourself really bothered (bothered enough to write an op ed piece) by the attention your high school football and hockey/basketball/lacrosse/soccer/etc. team gets, then you should probably go to a college that doesn't have D1 athletics.

Easy.

I don't expect EVERY MU student to LOVE basketball. I don't even care. I just find it curious that it really bothers some students how the basketball team lives.

The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference.

I see where you are coming from, but I don't agree with your conclusion.  It sounds like you are saying to just not deal with it.  Instead, my view is people should go where they want to go, especially if the university has a quality program in your area of study.   Or maybe these students can institute change or feel as though they can.

If I don't like a state because it is too conservative or too liberal, should I not take a really good job there so I don't have to deal with the politics of the citizenry?  What if there is a controversial professor like MU's McAdams or MU's McGuire, should they put the university on their cross off list because of them?

We just differ on this.  Athletics was important for me in choosing MU.  It had no bearing on choosing Purdue, the academic program did.  For a great number of students, athletics has no importance in their decision or sometimes has too much importance in how the various teams are treated.  They have every right to come to MU and express their displeasure if they wish.  It can change an institution, sometimes for the better.  Vanderbilt is such an example

[Silkk the Shaka]

If I don't like a state because it is too conservative or too liberal, should I not take a really good job there so I don't have to deal with the politics of the citizenry? 

Having buyer's remorse over taking that television gig in CA?

[ringout]

The editorial acts as if the sports teams are the only ones that get special consideration in housing, food and studies.

Last I checked, most schools have fraternities, sororities, honors colleges, engineering schools etc that get their own special dorms (often time significantly nicer than anyone else).  They also get their own cafeterias (often inside their own special dorm/housing).  

Also, with fraternities and sororities they have their own study areas complete with archives of tests and papers from the last decade or more of their members.

To act as if athletes at universities are the only ones who get access to these kind of things is ridiculous and to write like it is either means you are ignorant or have an agenda.

I understand that the Honors dorm in the old Y (sorry I don't know what it is called) is highly sought after.  Should that kind of favoritism be eliminated?

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

I see where you are coming from, but I don't agree with your conclusion.  It sounds like you are saying to just not deal with it.  Instead, my view is people should go where they want to go, especially if the university has a quality program in your area of study.   Or maybe these students can institute change or feel as though they can.

If I don't like a state because it is too conservative or too liberal, should I not take a really good job there so I don't have to deal with the politics of the citizenry?  What if there is a controversial professor like MU's McAdams or MU's McGuire, should they put the university on their cross off list because of them?

We just differ on this.  Athletics was important for me in choosing MU.  It had no bearing on choosing Purdue, the academic program did.  For a great number of students, athletics has no importance in their decision or sometimes has too much importance in how the various teams are treated.  They have every right to come to MU and express their displeasure if they wish.  It can change an institution, sometimes for the better.  Vanderbilt is such an example

They have a "right" to have any opinion they want, and that's fine.
I'm merely saying that a private institution has a right/ability to operate as it chooses inside of the law (and NCAA in this case).

I could write op-ed pieces every week DEMANDING that MU start a women's field hockey program.

But, it would probably just be easier to go to a school that has already has field hockey, if I love it so much, right?

I'm not saying people shouldn't voice their opinion, but in my mind, MU's players aren't treated so extravagantly that other students should take issue with it.