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“In some instances, at Florida State University, for example, black men comprise nearly 70 percent of the football team, yet just over one-third of those black male student-athletes will graduate,” said Shaun R. Harper, a professor in the Penn Graduate School of Education and the center’s executive director. “These numbers are shameful. In my view, no team with rates this low for a population that comprises such a significant portion of the team should be allowed to play in any BCS Bowl. These schools and their athletic conferences must be held more accountable.”
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<p>Let's root for the Florida State vs Auburn game. Are their QB smarter than the illustrious Cam Newton?</p>
<p>What struck me about the article was that the graduation rate of black athletes at most schools wasn’t all that much different from the average graduation rate of black undergraduate men in general (with some notable exceptions such as FSU). The rate for black undergraduate men was 56%, yet Alabama, which has clearly had a lot of recent success in its football program, had a 53% graduation rate for black athletes. I don’t dispute that these graduation rates for athletes aren’t good, but I think there’s a larger issue here.</p>
<p>Yes, and for good reasons. RG3 and RW3 do not fit the patterns of the typical black football players. Both come from strong families. RGIII is an army brat and both his parents are sergeants. The disciplined life of RGIII has been well documented, as well as his reasons to attend Baylor University. RW3’s parents are a lawyer and a legal nurse.</p>
<p>The fact that the graduation rates of football players is low does not mask the overall problems, not to mention that playing football in anticipation of a life changing possible contract is quite a motivator to stay in school. </p>
<p>In addition the overall picture of football is not necessarily worse than other college sports where economics are strong. UConn, for instance, has had its basketball team derided often for its abysmal graduation rate when opposing teams chanted “We graduate!”</p>
<p>The sad reality of the exploitation of the (mostly) black athlete remains a sore spot, especially when there is a cynical pretension that their time in school is about getting an education, or learning viable skills that could serve then beyond school. </p>
<p>This said there ARE exceptions. For instance, Kalen Bruce Thornton and the Acho brothers who attended Mack Brown’s football program. But then, again, one has to look at the prior education and familial environment. The named players all attended the same school as Ty Montgomery (current Stanford WR.) The school is easily the best private school for boys in Dallas, and perhaps Texas. </p>
<p>I am sure that there are similar stories at schools I am not that familiar with. But it remains that the patterns of public education throughout K-16 do not change. Schools can only educate the students who would excel anywhere they’d go, and fail most everyone else.</p>
<p>And of those that graduate, most leave without having done anything close to true college level work. At my school, it’s well known that if a student needs a GPA boost or an easy gen ed, he should look at classes which enroll the most football players.</p>
<p>I’m curious how the study handled athletes who left school early to enter the NFL Draft. If a kid leaves after three years to begin a career in the NFL, is it the school’s fault he didn’t complete his coursework in three years?</p>
<p>It seems to me that nobody wants to confront the larger issue of why black men are failing. In the US it is acceptable to say that football players are unprepared for college. It is unacceptable to say that black men are unprepared for college.</p>
<p>The problem we should be asking is not why black football players are unsuccessful in college but why black men are unsuccessful in college.</p>
<p>I have to admit I was surprised to read this from the article. Most football programs have mandatory study hall for players and have tutors available if needed. This should be working for all players not just the white ones.</p>
<p>I know a lot of the Alabama players don’t graduate because they turn pro early as opposed to just not graduating. I wonder how the study accounted for this reason not to graduate.</p>
<p>I am betting that the results for black basketball players would probably be the same or worse.</p>
<p>Coureur, I use the term academic factories to describe with a healthy dose of sarcasm and scorn the schools that produce substandard graduates, rely on dubious advanced high school classes to boost their six year graduation rates, and use plenty of unqualified and untrained instructors to facilitate the sinecures of their diva researchers. </p>
<p>Not a foreign concept among bowl selectees.</p>
<p>I know a lot of the Alabama players don’t graduate because they turn pro early as opposed to just not graduating. I wonder how the study accounted for this reason not to graduate.</p>
<p>Actually, a lot of Alabama players do graduate. </p>
<p>this fall, Bama had 13 graduates playing and 12 more will graduate this Saturday. The very popular Kevin Norwood will get his masters degree on Saturday.</p>
<p>In the 2009 BCS championship game, Bama set a BCS record by having more graduates playing than any other team.</p>
<p>Because of red-shirting, many players have put in four years of college while still having one year of playing eligibility.</p>
<p>However, I do agree that when a player leaves early because he’ll be a high round NFL draft pick then the school isn’t failing him.</p>
<p>While I agree that it’s a travesty, I do wonder how many of those football players went to college to get an education at all. I think a lot of them went to play football, period. The real travesty is that they are unpaid gladiators.</p>
<p>What we have is a variation on what has been described as the “mismatch” problem. Take a group of students whose academic credentials are often substantially below those of most students at a university. Add the extraordinary demands of collegiate sports at any level, which are magnified at D1 programs. The results are predictable.</p>
<p>I imagine Texas doesn’t do very well, either, but I know that they try hard. There is a beautiful facility the players can go to and study or get tutored. One staff member’s job is just to help the kids navigate their classes. Texas also allows ex-students to come back and finish their degrees at no cost - more than you would expect have done that.</p>
<p>One time when I was in Austin, I got to go to a banquet where each player could pick a professor to bring as a guest. The players all spoke briefly about what the profs meant to them. Urban Meyer was there and mentioned he was impressed with the support Texas gives its players. Mack Brown spoke at length about the importance of doing well in school. He listed all of the pro players, football and others, who have come back to school to finish their degrees.</p>
<p>Like an earlier post said, this article gets traction b/c it focuses on a subset of black students – Footballers. It’s easier to blithely ignore the larger issue of the education gap between rich/poor, majority/minority, HS grad rates (my alma mater school district boasts the lowest HS grad rate of any major US city – roughly 22% of ninth graders get their diploma in 4 years. yippee).</p>
<p>This article generates false rage about college athletics while there’s a sh**storm just behind the sheer curtain.</p>