Don’t focus on Arne Duncan’s bold ideas for turning sports whorehouses like Syracuse and San Diego State into shining universities on a hill. Focus on the responses of the NCAA.
I’m not going to sully my screen with the actual content of the NCAA’s response to this latest idea. I’m not even going to type the name of the head of the NCAA. There are (to paraphrase Martha’s George) limits. A blog can put up with only so much without it descends a rung or two on the old evolutionary ladder…
But I invite you to go here and read this man’s words for yourself.
March 18th, 2011 at 2:59AM
The NCAA President’s words (out of deference to UD’s sensibility I refrain from saying his name) give new meaning to the term mealy mouthed. I was reminded of the oversight body for continuing medical education (ACCME) and its toothless response to corrupt impresarios.
March 18th, 2011 at 3:31AM
Thank you, Bernard, for keeping his name off my blog. When he was a corporate-board-riding university president, I recorded his name. But enough is enough.
March 18th, 2011 at 8:15AM
Excellent. I was smiling to myself this morning in thinking about UD’s annual installment regarding male menses. I understand you are traveling, UD, but please do continue if you can.
March 18th, 2011 at 9:02AM
Why so hard on He Whose Name Will Not Be Mentioned? Just about every president of a so-called big time NCAA program deserves blame in this matter.
This will only stop when/if these gutless presidents put in a Judge Landis type to do what they are too cowardly to do themselves.
I do understand UD’s total disgust for HWNWNBM as his performance at his previous place of employment makes this development unsurprising.
March 19th, 2011 at 3:17PM
Actually I’m bothered by Duncan’s statement. A governmental official shouldn’t be telling the NCAA who should and should not be in their tournaments. Besides, graduation rates don’t tell us much about whether the athlete should be in school or whether he is being educated by the school, and people don’t graduate for any of a number of reasons, some of which are no fault of the school. There has to be a better indicator that graduation rates.
March 20th, 2011 at 8:40AM
AYY, the NCAA, as a tax exempt organization, receives a huge benefit from that status, which requires them to act in ways that create community, not private, benefit.
Furthermore, the universities that are member organizations of the NCAA are also often tax exempt organizations, as well as receive billions of dollars supporting their institutions through federal programs (75% of student aid comes through federal dollars, for example).
The idea that government shouldn’t be speaking out and making sure these organizations toe the line is loony.
Graduate rates are by no means perfect, but you start somewhere and then you work to improve. And even imperfect measures convey information. When you see a team graduate 8 percent of its players, you know something’s wrong. Using an imperfect measure can help motivate the institutions to come to the table and work toward a better measure.
March 20th, 2011 at 4:19PM
GTWMA,
Fiddlesticks. Tax exempt status is a function of what’s in the internal revenue code. All the NCAA or its members need to do is to comply with the requirements of the code, not with the philosophical views of any particular government official.
If the member organizations receive billions of dollars through federal programs they must comply with the requirements of those programs.
Government wasn’t speaking out. Government is our elected representatives, not some political appointee. If government wants to speak out it can easily do so by passing a law.
As for “something” being wrong with an 8 per cent graduation rate, that’s not an answer. If you can’t identify that the something is within the proper scope of Duncan’s authority, then you havent’ shown that he should be speaking out.
March 21st, 2011 at 6:13AM
Must have missed the day when the executive branch was written out of the government. Sorry.