Scholars and Athletes

Last week, Coach Jim Tatum accused Harvard of fishing for athletes with scholarship bait, in much the same manner as his own college, Maryland. "There is no difference," he declared, "between Harvard's academic scholarships and Maryland's athletic scholarships." According to Tatum, both schools give scholarships to good ball players who can meet admission standards.

Yet, admission standards at Maryland and at Harvard are not alike. Maryland can take a high scorer with a low I.Q. and shunt him off to study physical education. At the College, athletes must tread the same rigorous academic road as their less muscular brethren. No one has ever qualified for entrance, much less a stipend, merely because of a broad back and a strong arm.

There is more to the contrast than a mere difference of degree in admission standards. A football player, who enters his freshman year with a scholarship, does not need to play football. Maryland pays only if he plays. At Harvard, all scholarship holders must maintain a high academic standing and if their grades fall, not even an All-America rating can save their financial aid. All athletes here who draw University stipends, are well aware of the University's policy. They are warned not to let football or other sports interfere with their academic life and often the most promising grid giants are even advised to keep away completely from Soldiers Field.

This concerns the execution of admissions policy--recruiting. There is a separate problem the Admissions Office must consider: what sort of student body should the University have. The Administration's goal is a balance between intellectuals, activities men, and all other sorts of undergraduates (provided, of course, they meet the University's academic requirements). This variety is not simply an antidote to dullness, but a crucial part of the University's intellectual atmosphere, an atmosphere which encourages clashes of view point and maintains the educational benefits of mixing varied backgrounds.

Worthy though it is, this goal has its dangers, and Tatum, inadvertently, we suspect, touched on them directly. There is always the possibility of grid-minded alumni pressuring the Admissions Office into overloading the entering class with athletes. So far, however, the University has pursued its quest for variety effectively, without lowering its academic standards. And there is no reason to believe that the College will ever field a team of physical education majors.