Athletics, Academics War at UNC

Solemn faces and sagging shoulders marked the event as the students dutifully came out for a common cause -- to get Texas football tickets.

The fervor that students displayed last Tuesday -- waiting in line for three, four, even five hours -- serves as a reminder of the prominence that athletics often take over academics and other values at UNC.

Sue Estroff, chairwoman of the Faculty Council and an outspoken critic of the emphasis placed on UNC athletics, said she balked at a comment she overheard while attending Wednesday's noon convocation held to reflect on last year's terrorist attacks.

"Someone said the line to put stones in the spiral was actually longer than the line for Texas tickets," Estroff said. "Just the fact that the point was brought up is concerning."

Many would like to think that UNC is an institution most well-known for its academic excellence and moral standards, but the truth is that the event that brought out 6,000 students in a touching act of remembrance took a back seat to the ticket distribution.

This most recent example of athletic priorities taking precedence is part of an ongoing and longstanding debate over the role of athletics at an academic institution. UNC is in a unique position in regards to this debate, as many say UNC and Stanford University are arguably the only two schools that can match athletic prowess with academic excellence.

But along with those two gifts comes the angst over balancing the attention -- and money -- paid to them.

It is undeniable that athletics do provide some very real benefits to UNC academics.

Jerry Lucido, UNC director of undergraduate admissions, said the publicity of UNC athletics provides great name recognition for the University and serves as a good recruiting tool, as UNC athletics create a sense of community that is attractive to prospective students.

The fame of UNC athletics also can translate into dollars for UNC academics, said Doug Dibbert, president of the UNC General Alumni Association and a member of the Knight Commission, a national group that studies how athletic abuses could be threatening the integrity of higher education.

Dibbert said donors are often attracted to UNC because of its athletics but that these people then contribute significant funds for such causes as professorships and academic facilities.

But athletics also can detract from the academic environment and put the University's priorities into question.

Notable was UNC's participation in the financial arms race of collegiate sports when looking for a new head football coach in the fall of 2000.

Although it takes a high salary offer to attract a winning coach, some members of the University community spoke out against the contract that pays Bunting $160,000 a year and provides him with a compensation package of $550,000 per year, saying that the salary figure was an insult when compared to faculty salaries.

To add insult to injury, the UNC Board of Trustees in January approved a $100,000 raise for Bunting, increasing his base salary to a level higher than that of Chancellor James Moeser.

UNC's obsession with athletics also detracts attention from the school's academic focus, and if a conflict arises between athletic and academic events, the latter often gets second billing.

This year's University Day celebration serves as evidence. Held since 1877, it is an annual event held Oct. 12 that commemorates the 1793 laying of the cornerstone of Old East.

This University Day has some competition for attention, however, as the football team will play N.C. State University in a nationally televised game that day. As a result, administrators had to push up the schedule of University Day, and they are concerned about how many people will even show up.

Like two children competing for the affection of their parents, UNC athletics and academics have historically vied for the attention and money of the University community.

And while parents will say they love both children equally, the actions of the UNC community have clearly shown that the athletic child is the favorite.

Karey Wutkowski can be reached at karey@email.unc.edu.