Collegiate athletics has seen better days.
In the past year, according to an Associated Press report,Georgia and Fresno State canceled postseason appearances because ofacademic fraud. At Baylor, former basketball coach Dave Bliss wasaccused of attempting to persuade players to portray slain athletePatrick Dennehy as a drug dealer. Larry Eustachy, former Iowa Statebasketball coach, resigned when the Des Moines Register printedphotos of him drinking and partying at another university. OhioState football player Maurice Clarett was suspended and chargedwith lying to police about stolen items.
But now Vanderbilt, a school with one of the cleanest athleticprograms in the last half century, has "declared war" on the "wrongculture in athletics," Chancellor Gordon Gee told the APyesterday.
According to a press release on Vanderbilt's Web site, Gee said,"For too long, college athletics has been segregated from the coremission of the University. ... As educators, we have an obligationto try to make things better. ... However, institutions of higherlearning are in danger of being torn apart by the win-at-all-costsculture we have created for ourselves."
No athletic programs or positions will be eliminated, butVanderbilt will now control its varsity athletics under centraluniversity administration. According to the press release,Assistant Vice Chancellor Brock Williams will lead the new Officeof Student Athletics, Recreation and Wellness. The office is nowresponsible for 14 varsity sports, more than 300 varsity studentathletes, 37 club sports with more than 1,000 participants and anactive student intramural program.
Vanderbilt's teams will still compete at the NCAA level in theSoutheastern Conference, but Gee said they will operate "consistentwith the values of a world-class university."
Gee, Williams and the university are making an example ofthemselves. They are acknowledging the ills of collegiate athleticsand, right or wrong, are igniting a controversial attempt tocorrect the problems as they see them.
Whether this action will become a trend (and a remedy) is yet tobe seen.
But when, for many universities, winning games and procuringfunding is the only line, the courage displayed by Gee and theVanderbilt administration is rare.
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