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Friday, December 17, 2004

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Dartmouth Football is in dire straits, thanks in part to a Dean of Admissions who decries “football, and the culture that surrounds it” as being “antithetical to the academic mission of colleges.” James Hunt e-mails me a link to this Dartmouth Athletics blog, run by alum Bill Wellstead ‘63. Many alums contribute. And boy, are they angry.

Read some of the excellent letters, and note that this incident, borne of a Dartmouth Dean’s letter to the President of Swarthmore, is now on the radars of the Journal and the Inquirer.

James comments: “The contretemps may go national soon. (Oy.)”

It’s a good thing we have such a strong base of alums.

UPDATE: Here is a direct passage from Dean Furstenberg’s letter, which was written on official College letterhead:

I am writing to commend you on the decision to eliminate football from
your athletic offerings. Other institutions would do well to follow your
lead. I know you’ve heard a lot of criticism about this decision but I, for
one, support this change. You are exactly right in asserting that football
programs represent a sacrifice to the academic quality and diversity of
entering first-year classes. This is particularly true at highly selective
institutions that aspire to academic excellence. My experience at both
Wesleyan and Dartmouth is consistent with what you have observed at
Swarthmore. I wish this were not true but sadly football, and the culture
that surrounds it, is antithetical to the academic mission of colleges such
as ours. This is really a national problem and it is a good thing that you
are taking leadership on the issue. A close examination of intercollegiate
athletics within the Ivy League would point to other sports in which the
same phenomenon is apparent. In any event, I thought you would be glad to
hear a few words of encouragement on this difficult issue.

Note that in the above scan, there is one error. Bill Walker, Dartmouth’s Vice President of Public Affairs, refers to Dean Furstenberg’s letter as a personal letter. However, I am told by several sources that the letter was written on College letterhead, not personal letterhead.

Posted on December 17, 2004 01:04 PM. Permalink | E-mail This