Punting the Problem: When Athletes Struggle As Students
In case anyone needed further evidence of just how difficult it
can be for students to catch up once they’ve fallen behind on
their reading skills, consider “The
Education of Dasmine Cathey.”
This powerful (and often heartbreaking) narrative by Chronicle of
Higher Education senior writer Brad Wolverton is the result of
three months spent with Cathey, a football player at the
University of Memphis, documenting his struggle to complete his
college career on and off the field. Cathey managed to make it to
his senior year despite being semi-illiterate, and finds himself
at a crossroads with the safety net of his athletic scholarship
about to disappear.
Cathey is far from alone. Colleges and universities nationwide
are confronting similar issues of student athletes who are ready
for the field but not for the classroom. In recent years the NCAA
has stepped up its academic eligibility requirements and
oversight, but significant problems persist. As Wolverton
reports, University of Memphis officials were unaware of how
widespread the problem was on their campus was until a reading
test became a requirement for incoming athletes.
“”I was like, ‘Holy crud, I can’t believe how many kids are
reading below a seventh-grade level,’” the university’s athletic
director Joseph Luckey told the Chronicle.
Cathey still needs to complete a course this summer in order to
graduate, according to the Chronicle story. He failed to advance
after an NFL tryout, and has since found work driving a truck and
delivering beer.
Much has been written about insufficient academic standards for
college athletes, particularly at top-ranked campuses where big
games can bring in big money. But I don’t think I’ve seen a
better example of how this system affects an individual
student.
Cathey’s experiences also reinforce the message of organizations
like the Campaign For
Grade Level Reading, which is pushing for better
collaboration among schools and community groups to improve
literacy at all levels. Some research indicates that students who
are not reading at grade level by the end of third grade have
only a 25 percent chance of ever catching up to their proficient
peers. By those standards, Cathey was well behind the curve long
before he was recruited to play for the Memphis Tigers.
Indeed, the odds of academic success for African-American student
athletes like Cathey are particularly daunting, according to a
recent study by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in
Sport at the University of Central Florida. When looking at the
70 college football teams playing in the 2011-12 bowl games, the
institute determined that the average “graduation success rate”
was 20 percentage points higher for white student athletes than
for their black teammates. The one exception among the individual
campuses was Notre Dame, where the graduation success rate was
actually higher for black football players.
To be sure, many of Cathey’s struggles started before he even
enrolled at Memphis. But it’s also interesting to read the
comments on the Chronicle’s Web site, with some readers putting
blame on Cathey’s inability to seize the opportunities put before
him. Others saw a collegiate athletics system that exploits
students, rather than helps them overcome their deficits.
“I’m not finding this a heartwarming s story,” wrote reader
Maureen Basedow. “Too depressed about an education system that
regularly graduates below-7th grade reading level from high
school, and then admits them to college if they can do a fast 40.
And when they’re there, they can take an entire year of courses
without reading (or presumably, writing) anything. Is Memphis
proud of this? Are any of us?”
Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Contact Emily Richmond. Follow her on Twitter @EWAEmily.
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