Another kind of college sports

Many believe that liberal-arts colleges, which typically play sports at the Division III level, do not especially value athletics. We're therefore seen as having nothing practical to contribute to the national debate about the problems of high-profile, high-revenue, Division I college sports - including unethical behavior among coaches and boosters, erosion of academic values, special treatment of players, and cutthroat competition among the major conferences.

In fact, we are living the solution to these problems every day.

Colleges like Franklin and Marshall, Haverford, and Wesleyan aim to further the intellectual growth of all our students in a climate of high achievement and individual responsibility. In that context, we appreciate the educational value of competitive sports and structure our athletic programs to maximize their contribution to learning.

We understand that playing a sport develops qualities that are vital in the classroom as well as on the field: hard work, resilience, cooperation, respect for others, and leadership. Sports encourage students to do what they love and share their passion with others. Student-athletes have to learn to balance their commitments. Through competition, a fact of adult professional life, they become more goal-oriented. They learn the cycle of preparation, performance, and self-critique; they learn to be taught. And they learn that no defeat is final, because there is always a chance to compete again.

Colleges competing in Division III encounter the same tensions between their academic and athletic enterprises that Division I schools do, though to a lesser degree. We have athletics budgets to balance, facilities to maintain, coaches to compensate, and admissions processes to run. We also know that competitive athletic programs can increase applications as well as alumni engagement and donations, key indicators of our success.

As liberal-arts colleges balance these tensions, though, we make a conscious choice to recommit ourselves to our core educational values: learning, integrity, hard work, and respect for each student as an individual.

What enables us to do so? Without a doubt, the relative modesty of our athletic budgets helps. They aren't based on television contracts, postseason payouts, and ticket sales, which encourage winning at any cost. That helps ensure that we don't misplace our priorities, decrease transparency, or lose institutional control over athletic programs.