Only 280 black students were offered admission into UCLA out of
more than 10,000 admits for 2003. And hopefully there will never be
a time when black athletes are the only black students admitted and
given the opportunity to graduate from UCLA.
But even if they were, black athletes might not even have the
privilege of graduating from the four-year school that recruited
them so heavily ““ because many black athletes do not graduate
at all.
According to a recent study, only six Sweet 16 schools in the
NCAA basketball tournament have graduated more than 50 percent of
their players. Even more shocking, 13 have not graduated a black
player in six years.
Arizona’s graduation rate stands at 15 percent and
Maryland’s is 14 percent while Oklahoma hasn’t
graduated a single basketball player in six years.
Universities, after reaping millions of dollars from student
athletes who do not get paid, need to ensure that those athletes
will at least receive a degree when they leave the basketball court
and enter the real world.
Schools with big sports programs like UCLA have actively
recruited the nation’s top players for decades.
However, the priority for many universities has continued to be
how well student athletes perform in their sports instead of their
classes.
But if athletes are going to be an integral part of the campus
environment, they must be able to succeed in academics as well as
athletics.
Without student athletes receiving the education they were
promised at universities like UCLA, student athletic programs are
nothing more than means to exploit students.
If you are recruited to play football or basketball for a major
institution, where you see your name on jerseys being sold out of
the student store or your face on tickets marketed out of the
Central Ticketing Office, don’t you believe you should
receive your piece of the pie?
Since UCLA and other schools continue to state that they will
not pay athletes for their time in sports, the least they can do is
provide a decent education.
Rather than just being a minor addition to sports, this
education needs to be a priority.
Though sports will give many a future into making millions,
hundreds of athletes will not have that opportunity and will have
to get a non-athletic job. Severe injuries may further limit the
chances for athletes to turn professional, which means an education
is vital to their livelihood.
Without a proper education, athletes will not be able to make
the most of whatever fortune comes their way.
If universities ensure a college education, then athletes will
be able to manage the possible money that they receive from the
NBA, NFL and baseball’s major leagues.
This is especially important to black male athletes, who
continue to make up the majority of black men on college
campuses.
Colleges like Fresno St. and Georgia have allowed and aided
black male athletes to “succeed” by using fraudulent
tactics in order to ensure passing grades.
However, if a black man gets an opportunity at higher education
it is essential that he makes the most out of that opportunity.
There are thousands of black men who wish they had the
opportunity to play ball and go to college; we must not allow any
person to cheat their way out of the privilege of education.
Universities must make it standard to refocus their priorities
and give their athletes a legitimate chance to one day receive
their diploma.
Although many athletes will opt to go professional, as long as
they are unpaid while the university reaps profits, the university
must actively graduate all of its athletes no matter the
circumstances.
Smith is a fourth-year political science student. E-mail him at
rsmith@media.ucla.edu.