Clean Up College Sport

‘Student athletes’ are now quasi-mercenaries, performing to boost schools’ bottom lines, argues James O’Toole, who calls for the top institutions to take the lead and “offer athletic scholarships only to true student athletes.” “The old ideal of the serious student who also is a fine amateur athlete has become progressively corrupted in recent decades, particularly in the top-rated football and basketball programs at roughly 100 universities,” he laments. “There is nearly a complete disconnect…between their academic missions and the practices of their athletic departments.” Schools should “forgo a few dollars made off student athletes in order to regain their integrity and enhance their academic reputations.”