Athletes complete the Yale picture

One hundred and forty-nine years ago, the first intercollegiate athletic event in the United States took place between none other than Harvard and Yale. Ivy League sports have since developed in an entirely different manner from sports at other NCAA Division I schools—namely, the Ivy League cannot offer athletic scholarships. However, athletics remain an integral part of the Yale environment. Every year thousands of students, alumni, and other football enthusiasts trek either to the Bowl or Harvard Stadium to watch one of the most heated and time-honored traditions in college football—The Game. Devoted New Haven residents and scores of students attend men's hockey games in the Whale on weekends, braving the bitter cold winds of Science Hill to partake in the Yale Band's taunting of the visiting team and to celebrate with the Bulldogs after their victories.

HYURA CHOI/YH

Whoever you are, I am confident that athletics have somehow impacted your life— whether you have attended an athletic event, listened to and watched the marching band, had a roommate who played a sport, or even played yourself. Furthermore, the sports sections of the Yale Daily News and the Herald obviously would not exist without an athletic program, the gym would not be as large, well-equipped, or frequented, alumni support would decrease, and the traditional atmosphere of college campuses—in the form of rivalries with other schools and pride in your own team—would diminish.

With this in mind, I struggle to comprehend the bitterness and condescension that are commonly projected toward athletes at Yale. Yes, they have privileges regarding admittance to Yale as part of the athletic department's recruitment policy. Yes, they are a commanding presence on our campus, with a total of 33 varsity teams. Yes, there is probably some validity to the accusations that athletes, on the whole, tend to "have it easier," as Herald sports editor Anna Dolinsky claimed in her article two weeks ago [YH, 1/12/01].

However, are athletics not an integral part of every under-graduate's education in a certain respect? The University's athletic philosophy states, "Yale has long recognized that...an education is not fostered by its academic component alone. Part of it is constituted by those challenging and pleasurable experiences and extracurricular activities —like varsity and recreational athletics—that enable an individual to give fuller force to academic training."

As Yale's statement explains, athletics are a vital part of becoming truly educated—not just earning A's in your classes or obtaining that highly coveted investment banking job—but leaving college with an understanding of yourself. That understanding should include an appreciation for the talents of others, whether those talents be vocal, oratory, theatrical, academic, musical, athletic, or otherwise.

Along these same lines, Yale's focus on extracurricular activities extends well beyond the boundaries of athletics to accommodate and encourage other talents, and this is acknowledged not only at Yale, but also in the application process. If this were a purely academic institution, your application to Yale would ask solely for your GPA, SAT score, Advanced Placement classes, and academic honors, not your interests and activities in high school, your involvement in the community, your athletic achievement, or how many of your relatives have attended Yale.

Students are admitted to Yale because of what they will bring to the University to strengthen its sense of community and diversity. Musicians, singers, artists, and famous students are admitted for the same reason that athletes are—all of them arrive with a commitment to the high academic standards required by Yale. Evidence of the academic accomplishment of athletes is unattainable in an official context—team members' GPAs are not released, nor are those of other student activities such as singing groups or the YSO with whom I might compare the athletes. However, I do know that when one thinks of famous Yale graduates, a surprising number of them were also athletes. The next time you think that the phrase "dumb jock" might be appropriate in describing someone, consider that any number of years ago that athlete could have been football player and Rhodes scholar Kurt Schmoke, DC '71, the former mayor of Baltimore; former President George Bush, DC '48, who captained the baseball team his senior year; President William Howard Taft, class of 1878, who wrestled for Yale; Stone Phillips, SM '77, a news anchor on NBC's Dateline, who played football; U.S. Senator John Kerry, JE '66, former Yale soccer player; former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, BK '39, hockey player; or field hockey player Laurie Mifflin, SY '73, an editor for The New York Times.

So, before you rush to judge a person when he or she enters section on the first day wearing an athletic department-issued sweatshirt, or when you see a group of athletes sitting together in a classroom or the library, consider what they bring to the overall atmosphere and environment at Yale. Consider the fact that you, too, are a student at this fine institution for the same reason they are: to enhance the educational environment. Also, keep in mind that perhaps your extracurricular activities were the difference between receiving an acceptance letter to Yale rather than the rejection that the student with a higher GPA received. Graphic by Hyura Choi.

Back to Sports...