[NU Sports] NU Attendance et al

[Eric West]

Arthur Miller wrote:
> Not sure how this 'snobbery' discussion got started, but when it comes to the academic side of college athletics, IMO our world needs *more* snobbery.  That is, we need more institutions to enforce and exalt the academic aspect of college sports, not water it down.  We need more programs to demonstrate moral courage and not offer "scholarships" to talented athletes who clearly aren't interested or prepared for a serious university-level course of study.
>
> If that means some current "student-athletes" (and I'm referring to those who skate through their college experience by pursuing worthless degrees with little academic rigor) no longer have a means of participating in Division I athletics, that's fine with me.  Last I checked, nobody was guaranteed the right to play college sports just for being a fine athlete.
>   
Before I begin, I must mention that I agree with Dennis's main point: in 
the long run, sustained football success will be the best way to 
increase attendance. I suppose I only disagree on how best to attain 
that success.

That said, I am in total agreement with Arthur's point above. Academic 
standards are NOT equal to "snobbery," even if some folks in the past 
have used one as an excuse for the other. That has been the true 
obfuscation here.

Frankly, on those rare occasions when I've noticed actual current 
students talking about NU's academics at all, they usually bemoan how 
we're substandard compared to the Ivies or something like that. 
Complaints and inferiority complexes have been the favorite pastimes for 
at least twenty years here, not "snobbery."

And to tie it in with attendance, I'll add "indifference to sports" as 
another pastime. For better or worse, students don't choose NU for the 
football team. Even during the Rose/Citrus Bowl years, the success was 
just treated as a perq, not a reason for being. Not sure how that could 
change, barring some extra question on the undergraduate application 
gauging interest in spectator sports, which I would be against. Oops, 
there I go being a "snob" again.

Eric West
e-west at northwestern.edu