Winning record
March Madness is here, and the New York Times marks the occasion with a profile of Sr. Rose Ann Fleming, SNDdeN, the academic adviser to the men’s basketball team at Xavier University in Cincinnati.
Xavier, a Jesuit university in Cincinnati, is entering the N.C.A.A. tournament seeded sixth in the West Region with a 24-8 record. But Sister Rose Ann Fleming is a perfect 77-0. Since she became the academic adviser for Xavier athletics in 1985, every men’s basketball player who has played as a senior has left with a diploma.
…
“Our alumni over the years have told me that they’re so proud of the graduation rates,” Fleming said over a post-Mass coffee at Starbucks last week during the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament in Atlantic City. “They don’t want to hear about Xavier, or any university, using students athletically and then dumping them without a degree.”
Of course, you can’t write about women religious without invoking the usual cliches (she’s not one of those nuns who hit people with rulers — she even smiles!). But for the most part, the article (by John Branch) is a positive look at how religious women are still putting their experience in education to work — and, more broadly, at what ministry can mean for modern sisters. (Compare the paragraph on Sr. Fleming’s daily routine with the limited perspective on apostolic religious life Oprah offered last month.) It’s also an interesting look at how Catholic colleges hold themselves accountable to their mission, even in athletics.
A very nice story.
This stat is unsettling: “This season, 19 percent of the tournament teams have graduation rates below 40 percent.”
One way to increase the graduation rate (though this will never happen) is to give a first-round tournament bye to every team with a graduation rate at 90% or more.
I recall the days of John Thompson at Georgetown having an nun as academic watchdog for his very good teams.
Similar nice story at Xavier.
But big money rules college hoops and football, influencing rules, tournaments and TV.
(Frank Deford had an interestin gNPR piece last week on an active suit against the NCAA to pay players.) The vaneer of amateurism in major sports is just that -vaneer.
I like Bill C.’s final suggestion which has snowball’s chance of happening.
Of course, within graduation rates, it would be nice to have some standards of minimum courses need and performance therein 9no one on one with a professor/tutor, for example.)
What really needs to change though is good old do or die for alma mater, no matter what, by alumni/boosters (e.g Kentucky basketball, etc.)
It’s nice to see a positive story on women religious in the NYT while they are being ‘investigated’ by the Vatican, And while the NYT is posting articles about how the bishops and Vatican can’t seem to get the ball down the court against a full court press.
In addition to key lessons about how a university should approach its athletes – the Times article also suggests that there are lessons for those of us well outside of sports. Rich Harwood’s blog (Redeeming Hope) uses her example to stress that we have a responsibility to think about the greater good, about things beyond just “what others are doing.”
Worth a read: http://www.harwoodonline.org/RedeemingHope
Bob Nunz–
This country needs to admit this fact: college ball players are both students and employees of their schools. They begin with contracts, have non-voluntary duties to practice long and arduous hours which other students are not required to do, and the schools make money off the deals.
When other kids are hitting their books the basketball players are in the gym practicng, resulting often in exhaustion. Those kids can’t possibly do there best academically without extra help. considering how much money they make for the schools I’d also give them a salary.
Heresy? So be it.