'Dumb Jocks' at Harvard: Debunking the Myth

Worn and sweat-stained team caps, ubiquitous grey sweatshirts and a wandering mind appear to some the standard accoutrements of the Harvard athlete.

While the outside world may equate any Harvard education with omniscience, students see clear intellectual differentiations within their ranks.

In place of the Greek ideal—fitness of body as a necessary complement to fitness of mind—many Harvard undergraduates assume that their sports-inclined classmates are simply scholars in their spare time.

"While there is no outspoken discrimination, there is an inherent assumption that football players are dumb jocks," said Varsity Football Captain Edward D. Kinney '95.

But Harvard athletes often have more to offer than directions to Carey Cage.

"In a strange, sick way, Harvard engenders scholar-athletes," says Kinney, a sociology concentrator. "You can't help but be one here."

Some athletes complain, in fact, that fellow students don't appreciate how hard they work or recognize how many of them excel.

"To some degree, people think football players got in because the coach pulled strings," says Academic All-Ivy offensive lineman Sean W. Hansen '95. "Some people recognize that we work hard and just happen to like football or lacrosse or whatever."

"Still I've been surprised at the negative stereotype, especially considering the large number of athletes at this school," adds psychology concentrator Hansen.

Varsity Women's Soccer Coach Tim W. Wheaton says he thinks there's a perception that Harvard athletes are in some way different from other students.

"One of the problems we have at schools likethis is that athletes stand out," Wheaton says. "Sometimes the expectation is that they aren't as smart as everyone else."

But he says the academic success of an athlete is comparable to that of any student who is involved with a time-consuming extracurricular activity.

Many student-athletes say they're aware of a frustrating intellectual stigma that accompanies a team-affiliation at Harvard. Unfortunately, they say, they have little choice but to ignore it.

"When I called up one of my roommates before school started and I told him I was a hockey player, he thought I was a complete jock," said varsity team member Douglas M. Sproule '98.

In his first semester at Harvard, Sproule enrolled in Chemistry 10 and Math 21a as the basis for a pre-med college career.

Some athletes attribute their negative academic image to their own behavior both in class and out.

Others say it is the result of increased publicity about athletic recruiting and reportedly lower academic admissions standards.

But regardless of the source, almost every athlete interviewed says the perception of the singleminded "jock" is false.

Sound Body, Sound Mind

Athletes can and do excel both in the classroom and on the playing field, says Megan E. Colligan '95, captain of both Women's Varsity Lacrosse and Varsity Field Hockey.

"Every year you hear of athletes being accepted into the top medical schools, the top law and graduate schools in the country," says Colligan, a joint concentrator in History and Afro-American Studies.

"On the lacrosse team, there are definitely academic standouts," she adds. "Mostly though, the women on the team are very solid, very well-rounded. [They are] generally A- or B+ students who play a sport and are president of a club."

Colligan suggests field hockey teammate Maureen M. O'Brien '96 as a good example of a talented athlete who maintains other interests and prioritizes work before play.

Last year the pre-med O'Brien was named an Academic All-American by the Field Hockey Coaches Association.

She's working towards an honors degree in biochemistry, and scored high on her MCATs. In her spare time O'Brien volunteers at the Children's Hospital in Boston.

And this summer, instead of perfecting her driving and dribbling, O'Brien will conduct developmental biology research at the medical school in preparation to write her thesis.

O'Brien and others seem to epitomize the classic philosophy of arete—touted firmly by Harvard and the rest of the Ivy League conference.

"A lot of what it's about is the Greek ideal: sound body, sound mind," says swimmer Dave S. Alpert '97. "Here, it isn't like state schools where it's easy to tip one way or the other. Youtry to keep a balance."

"You're at a high enough level here that you can't slack off and still achieve, either academically or athletically," Alpert adds.

It's All in The Timing

Harvard athletes find little time to spare after more than 20 hours of weekly practice, plus time spent using their hard-earned skills playing intercollegiate games.

But where the time really evaporates is off the playing field.

Between workouts and weight-lifting, locker room meetings and training room time, equipment maintenance and treks across the river, athletes say they devote an average of 30 hours a week to their sports in season.

Add frequent road trips and general exhaustion into the equation and another student might begin to understand what it means to play a varsity sport at Harvard, athletes say.

To excel academically, athletes must somehow find time to read, complete problem sets and write papers. Too often, they say, people assume that they don't bother.

"It's an issue of efficiency," says football captain Kinney. "Your time is dictated by your practice schedule. It's definitely exhausting, but if you use your time efficiently, there should be more than enough."

Prioritizing goals and strict organization are key, say others.

"Sometimes there will be two major things at the same time, like finals and a big invitational," says swimmer Alpert. "You just have to get your work done earlier in order to do both."

Football running-back Kweli P. Thompson '96, a chemistry concentrator, says self-control is also crucial to an academic athlete.

"I had a test on the Monday after the weekend of the Yale game, and that was mainly a matter of discipline," he says.

Many athletes are forced to make time to study, a task which involves unconventional methods and means.

Some study on the bus and at hotels on roadtrips. Others sacrifice time during which they otherwise would sleep or party.

Athletes commonly work with teammates taking the same classes to lighten each individual workload. And they rely on assistance and advice from older teammates who've learned tricks togetting it all done.

Still, varsity athletics demand so much time of a student that even the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship competition to study at Oxford after graduation has toned down its once-stringent sports requirement.

According to the 1994-95 Harvard College Guide to Grants, today's Rhodes committee might be inclined to accept hiking when looking for athletic prowess in an applicant.

The secretary of the Rhoces Scholarship Trustwas quoted in the Guide to Grants as attributing the shift away from intercollegiate sports in Rhodes qualifications to increased demands on college athletes.

"College athletics (varsity teams) have taken on a professional orientation, they have become more time-consuming, and the students who excel on the teams rarely achieve an academic record high enough for the Rhodes competition."

But while the Rhodes may have largely abandoned the notion the a healthy body and mind are inextricably interdependent, some athletes say that far from distracting them from schoolwork, varsity sports actually help students focus.

"Sports make you very disciplined in all aspects of your life," says swimmer Benjamin T. Odell '98.

Athletic commitments require tight scheduling by students, adds Elizabeth Gettelman '96, who plays basketball and rows.

"Coming to college it's easy to procrastinate,"she says. "But with sports, you have scheduled commitments. You know exactly how much time you have to do your homework."

It's not easy, though. Field hockey's O'Brien says the strain can be intense.

"The fall of my sophomore year, I was taking several pre-med requirements and playing field hockey," O'Brien says. "That was really demanding, really tough."

And sometimes sacrifices are required of would-be scholar-athletes who want to achieve to their highest potential on all fronts.

"A lot of people who are really smart and work really hard don't have the time to work as hard as you need to to really excel here," says swimmer Joshua L. Adams '97. "It's a choice."

"I don't even consider if it's worth it," Adams continues. "Swimming is a part of me. I've done it every day year-round since I was nine years old. To me it's much more of a question if I'll swim at Harvard than if I'll swim."