From DSC:
The following reflections were catalyzed by Jeff Selingo’s Next posting from 10/22, specifically the item:
- Student fees for athletics, dark money in college sports, and why this all matters to every student, every college.
All of this has big risks for institutions. But whenever I talk to faculty and administrators on campuses about this, many will wave me away and say, “Well, I’m not a college sports fan” or “We’re a Division III school, so that all this doesn’t impact us.”
Nothing is further from the truth, as we explored on a recent episode of the Future U. podcast, where we welcomed in Matt Brown, editor of the Extra Points newsletter, which looks at academic and financial issues in college sports.
As we learned, despite the siloed nature of higher ed, everything is connected to athletics: research, academics, market position. Institutions can rise and fall on the backs of their athletics programs – and we’re not talking about wins and losses, but real budget dollars.
And if you want to know about the impact on students, look no further than the news out of Clemson this week. It is following several other universities in adopting an “athletics fee”: $300 a year. It won’t be the last.
Give a listen to this episode of Future U. if you want to catch up quick on this complicated subject, and while you’re at it, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Clemson approves new athletics fee for students. Here’s what we know — from sports.yahoo.com by Chapel Fowler
How much are student fees at other schools?
That’s true in the state of South Carolina, when comparing the annual fees of Clemson ($300) and USC ($172) to Coastal Carolina ($2,090). And it holds up nationally, too.
DC: Having played a sport at the NCAA Div I collegiate level, I can say sports are out of hand in our country. Increasingly, ALL students are being billed new athletic-related fees. One wonders…in the future, how much will future Ss/parents pay per yr? https://t.co/P64plKVdH2
— Daniel S. Christian (@dchristian5) October 22, 2024
From DSC:
The Bible talks a lot about idols….and I can’t help but wonder, have sports become an idol in our nation?
Don’t get me wrong. Sports can and should be fun for us to play. I played many an hour of sports in my youth and I occasionally play some sports these days. Plus, sports are excellent for helping us keep in shape and take care of our bodies. Sports can help us connect with others and make some fun/good memories with our friends.
So there’s much good to playing sports. But have we elevated sports to places they were never meant to be? To roles they were never meant to play?