Wayne State University is known for its vast diversity amongst its student body. Everyday some 27,000 students from all walks of life attend Wayne State. One of the key factors behind the WSU’s wide diversity is the fact that the majority of it’s students are commuters. While many would think that this factor would result in low school spirit, this is not the case. Recently this diversity has begun to build as unique culture of school pride. One of the key areas where this has been affective is sports. In 2015 alone both basketball and football experienced record numbers in attendance. Through the the WSU Athletic Engagement and Warrior Pride Initiate, nearly 1,000 more students attended football games during the 2015 season. In basketball,
Most student-athletes grow up as very innocent lads bedecked with tremendous talents and become very promising in sports. Thus, they become rays of hope for their families, neighborhoods, and schools yet to be determined. Like the lamb in William Blake’s poem The Lamb, they are fed “by the stream & o’er the mead; gave…clothing of delight, softest clothing, wooly, bright…making all the vales rejoice.” (Smith 24) Then they are exposed to the life of hard work in which only the fittest survives. This makes them ready for the different challenges in the sports scene.
Not all colleges’ focus on ensuring that their athletes succeed both their respective sport and in their education. The University of Oklahoma (referred to as “OU”) demonstrates its commitment to success in the classroom and on the field, by providing students with the Sooner Housing Center. The Sooner Housing Center provides a family-like environment, which ensures OU athletes maintain a strong balance between academics and athletics by emphasizing the athlete’s educational achievements in addition to their sports accomplishments. Living in a focused community guides athletes in the right direction since performativity plays a large role in their lives.
Defending Titles Diversely: A Persuasive Essay about the Lack of Diversity in Sports Many Americans have seen or at least heard of the movie “Remember the Titans.” The classic film focuses on a school that blends black and whites and takes on an African American head coach. The coach knows the importance of winning, but also knows the team must work together to get those wins and have respect for every single person in the locker room. Although coach Boone was still put in a tough situation with the school board and the community, he was able to lead his team, with the help of a white assistant coach, to an undefeated season. The team coming together is exactly what America does with sports.
High school athletics leave a major impact on everybody that is involved with them. It also can even leave a mark on people who aren’t associated with them. There are many conflicting opinions on whether high school sports are a positive or negative influence on a student’s life. Athletics in high school can have an effect on the community as a whole. In H.G. Bisssinger’s highly regarded Friday Night Lights, high school football is accurately portrayed as the most important thing in Texas; it receives much more attention than academics. Football players are often treated like celebrities; yielding confidence, and at the same time creating pressure.
Within a community is a sense of unity, which for many is brought together by the young athletes of the community. In his article “High School Sports Have Turned Into Big Business,” Mark Koba of CNBC highlights that within the last thirty to forty years high school football has escalated into a highly revered tradition in which not only communities, but highly successful corporations have begun to dedicate millions of dollars towards (Koba n. pg.). This highlights the status of sports within the community and may explain part of the reason schools would favor sports over other programs. Because sports programs can often turn over big profits for schools, they tend to dedicate most of their excess funds towards sports, and rely on sports programs to create large profits for the school. When school administrators see how much sports unite, excite, and benefit the school, they develop a respect for sports and consider it a necessity to provide a good sports program for their students and community. Also in his article, Koba quotes an interviewee named Mark Conrad who is the associate professor of legal and ethical studies at Fordham University 's school of...
"College Athletic Programs Undermine Academics." Student Life. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2011. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 27 July 2011.
Potuto, Josephine (Jo) R., and James O'Hanlon. "National Study Of Student-Athletes Regarding Their Experiences As College Students." College Student Journal 41.4 (2007): 947-966. Humanities International Complete. Web. 21 Nov. 2011.
Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, but so Cassius Clay, Jackie Robinson, and Bill Russell. Long before King’s famous “I Had a Dream” speech or Rosa Parks famous stand came something much simpler: sports. Sports have always had the ability to open people’s eyes in a way that is more impactful than words or actions. The way that athletics can shape a persons mind, or open their eyes to something beyond what they already believe, is incredible. They can get everyone to root for a common purpose, a common goal. And for some, that was freedom. The integration of professional and collegiate athletics not only changed sports history, but helped shape American history.
College is a time for young people to develop and grow not only in their education, but social aspects as well. One of the biggest social scenes found around college campuses are athletic events, but where would these college sports be without their dedicated athletes? Student athletes get a lot of praise for their achievements on the field, but tend to disregard the work they accomplish in the classroom. Living in a college environment as a student athlete has a great deal of advantages as well as disadvantages that affect education and anti-intellectualism. Around the country, college athletic programs are pushing their athletes more and more every day.
The concept of college athletics has been around for more than approximately 150 years (Siegel). From the very beginning, college athletics were destined to become a full-fledged, vital part in higher education. Their importance and significance from the start until now is undeniable. College athletics play a valuable role and are beneficial to institutions in ways such as promoting positive character development among athletes, establishing unity from a surplus of people, and supporting college experiences and traditions. These are just a few of their contributions to higher education. Although there are various controversies surrounding these points, they are just some of the reasons that athletics will remain embedded in university life for decades to come.
When diversity is being discussed, there are a plethora of ideas that are associated with it. Whether people are talking being put on a waitlist for college, about people of color, or about representation in the media, the subject of diversity is not rare. Recently, the conversation of diversity has become more common because colleges want to demonstrate that they have diversified campus. How would diversity on campus be defined? Most importantly, diversity is more than having an extraordinary personality. Race, gender, sexuality, and social status are a few of the superfluous traits that make an individual unique in a college’s eyes. In Sophia Kerby’s article, “10 Reasons Why We Need Diversity on College Campuses”, she notes that, while there has already been an effort to diversify high schools and middle schools, accepting students of different backgrounds is not as apparent in higher education (1) . A university desires to diversify its campus in order to benefit the students that are attending the college. Students are not only likely to improve
Diversity is a must have when it comes to colleges and universities. Diversity is what separates the good universities from the great universities. Universities that have diversity help out their students more than anyone could imagine. It help students get ready to open up and understand one another on a more personal level. Some students grow up in segregated towns where there is not much diversity, but with the help of diversity from colleges, students will learn to learn and accept one another. It would be fresh new start for all of the students to learn about each other and their similarities and differences. The information college students could learn from someone that is from another culture is a great prize and will be remembered for the rest of their lives. “Diversity will further strengthen the United States as new minds with new views are added to the society. This is true of the country’s universities and colleges, as well”(Milligan).
College sports were not always the greatly admired and successful attractions that they are today. They were first created in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries by students who needed some physical activity to liven their plain and serious lives. During this time period, sports activities were solely intra-collegiate and the main competitions were between each grade level (Flowers, 2009). With the new class rivalries came a sense of community that students needed to direct their attention away from strictly educational activities. However, in the nineteenth century, the addition of new academic studies, electives, and professional courses began to break apart the singular class unity that sports created. Intra-collegiate sports transformed into intercollegiate sports after the Industrial Revolution and invention of the railroad allowed sports t...
The students that were accepted solely on athletic abilities additionally counteract the university purpose by occupying valuable student spaces of enrollment. At Penn State University i...
After reading Hallway Hangers, a sense of the complex relationship between poverty and education is gained: it a dualistic one. In some views, education is a means out of poverty, yet those who grow up poor often have different opportunities, hopes, and experiences in their school years. During my time thus far at Colgate, I have participated and watched many sporting events on campus, and found that local families attend and cheer with as much enthusiasm as the students. Similarly, on National Athletes appreciation Day last year the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) ran a program at both the elementary and high schools in Hamilton, providing question and answer periods for the students and giving them skills clinics. The tremendous respect that I felt that the students gave me was overwhelming, not because I was just an athlete, but because I attended Colgate University. While observing the sporting events and the community outreach programs I realized then that Colgate is a virtual mecca for this area. So a double standard is evident: the presence of a relatively prestigious college is no doubt an inspiration to local students; but the reality of the matter is - how many of these youths could, and would, achieve a college diploma?