Academics in the Athletic Arena

Harvard's role as an academic and research leader is acknowledged worldwide. But the involvement of the University--and, more specifically, President Bok--in formulating rules governing college athletics is less well known. Despite the lack of publicity given to Harvard's involvement in sports policy-making, educators and athletic officials interviewed nationwide said this week that Harvard had a subtle but persuasive influence in the recent adopting of minimum academic standards for entering freshman athletes.

Although the changes--which require a minimum Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) combined score of 700 and a high school grade point average of 2.0 in a specific curriculum for any freshman participant in a varsity sport--continue to draw national media attention, the committee which proposed the controversial standards has received little scrutiny. While those interviewed did not describe the University's involvement as dominant, they made clear that Bok's participation as chairman of the panel was crucial.

Bok chairs the athletics committee of the American Council on Education (ACE), which developed the guidelines that were eventually approved by the national convention of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) in January. Forty-two college presidents from schools with major football and basketball programs make up the panel.

Because Harvard has traditionally required high academic standards from entering athletes and the University is not a particularly prominent member of the NCAA. Bok says as chairman he could strongly urge his ACE group to consider specific recommendations, then act as a neutral mediator without charges of self-interest. "I certainly played a role in getting these presidents together and persuading them they need to look seriously at these problems, and I will continue to do that as long as they're willing to cooperate and that we still have problems left to resolve," he adds.

Although Bok downplays his influence in the committee, University of Miami President Edward T. Foote explains that "Harvard is Harvard, and Derek Bok is a very highly respected educator. President Bok has definitely had a leading role in all of those decisions." Foote says that there was some division within the group as to the severity of the requirements--the ACE's proposal was the strictest of four plans presented at the NCAA convention--"but it was decided that a strong step had to be taken."

Bok says he felt a responsibility as an educator to get involved in deciding changes that will have negligible effects at Harvard. He adds that he viewed the committee's task as searching "to find the best possible way to solve the problem, but we don't want to continue with the present status quo of saying that the problem does not exist." "In a certain sense you have to make a move to get things going," he explains. "After all, we've been rolling along for a very long time with an indefensible situation, and a situation that, I might add, people of both races are concerned about: the exploitation of student-athletes."

Bok says it is not surprising that NCAA officials have not previously taken serious steps toward ending this problem. "I don't mean to criticize the great majority of delegates to the NCAA who really represent athletic interests," he says. "It's unfair to expect them... to uphold academic values, when they are in competition with athletic values."

Debate over the ACE proposal at the NCAA convention--known as Proposition 48 to delegates--lasted several hours, as the body wrestled with the specific alternatives, but the need for new standards was generally accepted. "Up to now, the NCAA only asked for a 2.0 average on a 4.0 scale, without specifying what courses to take or recommending any test scores for grants in aid," says Penn State Head Football Coach Joe Paterno. "We've been legitimizing poor students. These standards will act as a carrot to make the kids work harder in high school."

"I don't feel as a football coach that I should argue with college presidents about the 700 standard, they should know more about it than me," says Paterno, capturing widely held sentiment among some NCAA members--that educators know best how athletes should be educated.

Bok agrees that his group was possibly the most qualified panel to consider the topic. "I think it was an appropriate vehicle by which presidents could come together and assert their common concern for the impact of college athletics on academic standards," he says.

He also acknowledges that passage of the academic standards in his committee was almost tantamount to NCAA approval, estimating a 90 percent membership overlap between the two national groups.

But the new standards have drawn heavy criticism from Black educators, who say that SAT scores are racially biased and that, consequently, minority athletes will be disproportionately affected by the changes.

Materials published after the NCAA debate over Proposition 48 indicate that the mean combined SAT score for whites is 925, while Blacks have a mean combined score of only 694. The new rules will prevent most Black freshmen from competing in varsity sports, minority educators argue, adding that the standards also implicitly state that the average Black freshman could but compete academically at an NCAA institution.

"I think it was a little too far too fast," said University of Alabama at Birmingham President Jerry Young, one of the few white educators who opposed the plan. "I voted against it; the SAT is the major reason," explains Young. "About 57 percent of entering Blacks test below the 700 level. Does that mean 57 percent of Black men won't graduate?"

Roosevelt Wilson, athletic director at Florida A&M University says that the changes will not have a positive result. "I think the intent to raise academic standards for student athletes was a noble idea, but the proposition itself is no good," he adds. "I am terribly disappointed that some of our finest educators would take a standard as arbitrary as the SAT and use it as a limit when there is no empirical evidence that it shows how well a student will perform."

Wilson also pointed out some inconsistencies in the plan. "If they were so concerned about setting academic standards for athletes, why did they just limit the proposal to Division I? Why not Division II or III?"

Bok defends the SAT standard, stating that it is an accurate means "to identity a group of students who have particular risks academically." He adds that "there have been studies done which show that the lower the SAT scores, the smaller the chance of graduation. There's no particular question about that."

One problem with the SAT standard is that many Black educators feel it is an unfair standard, meaning that a number of Black athletes will be disproportionally affected. The ACE committee that made this proposal included only three Black educators--a fact which several officials believe is a fundamental flaw. "They made one mistake," says Paterno. "They should have had some Black representatives. I think that was an oversight--one which the Black educators have a right to be offended by."

Bok says that because the ruling will not take effect until 1986, the Black educators will have some time to develop an alternative testing standard. And he says that he would "be interested in working with the representatives of Black colleges and other institutions to get them to see that we have started a process we haven't finished it but we've started a process of seriously grappling with that issue."

This lack of Black representation has led some to doubt whether the proposal has everyone's best interests in mind. Wilson, who says Florida A&M already adheres to higher state standards than the NCAA ruling establishes, took issue with Paterno, who argued in favor of the plan on the convention floor in January. "He said something to the effect that it might hurt for a while; but we should just bear with them and later we'd be grateful for their help.' Those are nearly the same words our slavemasters used when they beat us."

Paterno feels that the SAT will encourage more Black leaders off the athletic field. "It'll make Black athletes see the need for education," he says. "I here's probably some validity in the view that the SAT is not a fair standard but the Black educators can work with the test and make it more fair."

Harvard's influence in the proceedings with Bok as chairman is generally considered to be a strong force with good intentions. But it is the method in which those intentions were represented that still causes some debate. "I don't think the committee members were just representing their institutions." Stanford Director of Athletics Andy Geiger says. "I think they recognize that this is a national problem they're dealing with." He adds, "I think it's important for colleges and University leaders to take a step in setting some standard for athletes."

John D. Solomon contributed to the reporting of this article.