Controversies in College Sports

• Author: George H. Hanford
• DOI: 10.1177/000271627944500109
• Published date: 01 September 1979
• Date: 01 September 1979
• Subject Matter: Articles

66

Controversies

in

College

Sports

By

GEORGE

H.

HANFORD

George

H.

Hanford,

Senior

Vice

President

of

the

College

Board,

is

a

graduate

of

Harvard

College

and

the

Harvard

University

Graduate

School

of

Business

Ad-

ministration.

While

on

sabbatical

leave

from

the

College

Board

in

1973-74,

he

conducted

an

inquiry

into

the

need

for

a

national

study

of intercollegiate

athletics

for

the

American

Council

on

Education.

He

is

currently

a

member

of

the

ACE

Commission

on

Collegiate

Athletics

which

was

appointed

in

response

to

his

call for

the

establishment

of

such

a

body.

ABSTRACT:

While

the

Twentieth

Century

history

of inter-

collegiate

athletics

has

been marked

by

four

periods

of

ex-

ternal

scrutiny,

the

present

scene

is

dominated

by

develop-

ments

relating

to

the

conduct

of

revenue

producing

sports,

the

equalization

of

athletic

opportunities

for

women,

the

re-

cruiting

and

subsidizing

of

athletes,

and

the

financing

of

collegiate

sports.

Overemphasis

on

big-time

football

and

basketball

persists

in

clouding

the

relationship

of

sports

to

education.

Ethical

misconduct

in

the

attraction

and

main-

tenance

of

big-time

athletes

continues

to

plague

the

college

sports

scene.

The

tightening

financial

squeeze

on

higher

education,

by

keeping

pressure

on

revenue

producing

sports,

continues

to

nurture

an

unhealthy

win-at-any-cost

philos-

ophy.

And

the

movement

to

provide

women

with

equal

athletic

opportunity

as

required

by

Title

IX

of

the

Higher

Education

Act

of

1972

is

adding

to

the

problems

of

dollars

and

ethics—problems

that

will

be

solved

only

when

the

relationship

of

intercollegiate

sports

to

the

educational

process

is

publicly

examined,

professionally

clarified,

and

understandably

declared.

Another

version

of

this

article

is

being

published

simultaneously

in

the

fall

1979

issue

of the

Educational

Record.