Supporting the status quo of college athletics is like swimming in a pair of steel-toed boots — it’s not smart and it just won’t work.
However, Chancellor Holden Thorp’s recent suggestion that the chancellor should no longer control university athletics is faulty at best and dangerous to a successful coexistence between athletics and academics.
Thorp stated that the presidents and chancellors of universities are often ill-equipped to preside over athletics, and that athletic directors should be the ones making final decisions about rules and regulations, as they have the experience needed in this field.
Though athletic directors should attend meetings that dictate the regulations that universities agree upon, by no means should they have the final say over a university’s athletic policies.
Thorp’s view misconstrues the role of the chancellor. It is not the chancellor’s duty to be an expert on every matter, but to trust those he works with to be. Just as Thorp is most likely not an expert on finance or medical affairs, he should trust Bubba Cunningham just as he trusts the vice chancellors of these areas.
But Thorp was right to point out the need for more involvement in athletics from faculty and academic administrators.
This would help in seeking a better balance between athletics and academics, which could not be achieved through a complete segregation of the two.
The NCAA needs to reform itself and the very idea of the “student athlete.”
But in the meantime, the chancellor can’t wash his hands of athletics altogether. To do so would be irresponsible.
