The Rawlings panel’s recommendation to permit schools to “provide financial assistance to former scholarship athletes for graduate or continuing education” is irrational, and UNC should not advocate it.
The recommendation is an overextension of schools’ duties to their athletes, and seems like overkill in emphasizing the academic side of the experience.
The panel suggested that funding would come from athletic revenues.
With many schools — including UNC — straining to make the numbers work in their athletic department budgeting, funding for graduate studies of former students is far from responsible spending.
Student athletes have already received the invaluable gift of a scholarship-funded education. This gift from the University already puts each athlete in an enviable position to pursue further endeavors.
A graduate degree isn’t necessary to get a job, and — while the NCAA should certainly encourage its student athletes to pursue further education — the onus for funding these degrees shouldn’t fall on these schools.
Athletic reform should focus on finding a healthy balance between athletics and academics. The glaring problems in athletics have made it the trendy choice to provide over-reactionary reforms that stress academics to an unfair degree, rather than truly finding a balanced solution.
UNC has acknowledged its responsibility to lead the athletic reform outlined by the Rawlings report, but it must be careful to filter out suggestions like this one that are unrealistic and would reduce its credibility as a reasonable voice for change.
