TO THE EDITOR:
Although not an athlete, I take great offense to the “thumbs down” given to the Pope Foundation in regards to their donation for academic support for athletes in the April 7 edition of “Quick Hits.” In this blurb, it was charged, “players screw up royally, then get a multimillion dollar donation.”
Unfortunately, the facts do not square away with the petty insult leveled against “athletes.” While it is quite true that a handful of UNC football players were ruled permanently ineligible, the UNC athletic family is far greater than a few football players. In case the Daily Tar Heel editorial board did not notice, UNC sponsors 28 varsity sports. Among those 28, there are hundreds of athletes, and it would be grossly unfair to penalize all these student-athletes for the incorrect choices made by just a few.
In the very same edition of the DTH, there was a story on the return of Tyler Zeller for next season. Mr. Zeller, of course, is also an Academic All-American who was awarded the 2011 Skip Prosser Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award by the ACC. Unfortunately, it is a shame that the DTH editorial board has only chosen to attack our athletes rather than acknowledging the vast success many have garnered off the court.
Alex Gottschalk
Freshman
American Studies and Political Science
