Intercollegiate Athletics and the American University : A University President's Perspective

After decades of domination on campus, college sports' supremacy has begun to weaken. "Enough, already!" detractors cry. College is about learning, not chasing a ball around to the whir of TV cameras. In Intercollegiate Athletics and the American University James Duderstadt agrees, taking the view that the increased commercialization of intercollegiate athletics endangers our universities and their primary goal, academics. Calling it a "corrosive example of entertainment culture" during an interview with ESPN's Bob Ley, Duderstadt suggested that college basketball, for example, "imposes on the university an alien set of values, a culture that really is not conducive to the educational mission of university." Duderstadt is part of a growing controversy. Recently, as reported in The New York Times , an alliance between university professors and college boards of trustees formed in reaction to the growth of college sports; it's the first organization with enough clout to challenge the culture of big-time university athletics. This book is certainly part of that challenge, and is sure to influence this debate today and in the years to come. James J. Duderstadt is President Emeritus and University Professor of Science and Engineering, University of Michigan. Contents......Page 18 Part I. Hail to the Victors......Page 20 1. Introduction......Page 22 2. Go Blue......Page 35 3. A University President’s Perspective......Page 65 Part II. How Do Things Really Work?......Page 86 4. The Evolution of College Sports......Page 88 5. University 101......Page 106 6. The Governance of Intercollegiate Athletics......Page 123 7. Financing College Athletics......Page 145 Part III. Cracks in the Facade......Page 166 8. The Commercialization of College Sports......Page 168 9. The Student-Athlete......Page 208 10. Integrity......Page 234 11. Institutional Control......Page 250 Part IV. Tilting at Windmills......Page 280 12. Back to Basics......Page 282 13. Roads to Reform......Page 293 14. Reform or Extinction?......Page 324 Epilogue......Page 338 Notes......Page 346 Index......Page 354 "Arguing that universities must regain control of intercollegiate athletics by deemphasizing them and realigning them with the university's educational mission. James J. Duderstadt, former president of the University of Michigan, offers new and controversial suggestions for bringing about this change. He asserts that if burgeoning athletic programs cannot be brought back into the fold, then universities must recognize them for what they are - commercial, professional, and independent entertainment businesses."--BOOK JACKET