Brutus: Don't Demonize Athletic Recruitment
This piece is a dissent to “Let’s Level the Playing Field: Rethinking Athletic Recruitment at Yale.”
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It’s Harvard-Yale. November 23, 2030. The scoreboard reads 42-0, Harvard, at the end of the fourth quarter. Yale alumni dejectedly turn off their TVs; Yalies who made the trek to Cambridge pack their bags in rooms full of celebrating Harvard students. As members of the Yale community commiserate with one another, they ask: Why do we keep losing?
The answer is simple: Yale axed recruitment, athletics program be damned.
The majority assumes that Yale could get rid of its recruitment process and the athletics program would fare just fine: the worst that could happen, in their words, is “a few athletes would be lost in a shift away from selective recruitment.” This is naive at best, dishonest at worst.
Good sports teams don’t just spontaneously appear on campus when you admit 1,600-odd students based on their Common Apps. Recruits need to complement their would-be teammates and fill the gaps that appear with each new season. It takes time, effort, and most of all expertise to fill rosters, which coaches can dedicate to potential athletes but general admissions officers simply can’t. And if we want the best athlete-scholars, we need coaches to identify them and attract them to Yale. Of course, coaches shouldn’t be making admissions decisions, and they don’t. They only help admissions officers make informed decisions.
The majority, meanwhile, seems to believe that recruitment is the name of a magic wand that coaches wave to whisk athletes straight through Phelps Gate. Somehow, though, it’s the dissent who “demeans” athletes by supporting recruitment. It’s true that admissions rates are significantly higher for recruited athletes than for other applicants. But to be a recruited athlete, a coach has to identify you not only as extremely talented on the sports field, but also as a competitive applicant who meets Yale’s standards as an entire package. Just like any other part of the holistic admissions process, recruitment gives talented applicants a chance to present themselves at their best. It does not, contrary to the majority’s belief, reduce athletes to their athleticism or cast them as one-dimensional ogres.
But the majority is not content with simply ripping into the recruitment process. They contend that Yale no longer really needs a cohesive athletic program. Let’s set aside the obvious fact that athletic excellence is a kind of excellence, that Yale historically sought it and still today prizes it. Let’s forget that there were twenty Bulldogs at the Paris Olympics, and that one of the greatest men’s figure skaters of all time graduated in May — let’s pretend that Yale’s days of world-class athletics are confined to the past. Even then, you cannot understate the value individual athletes bring to Yale, nor the sense of community and cohesion that the program helps to foster.
Athletes get up before sunrise nearly every day, build bonds with teammates from disparate backgrounds, and persevere in the face of countless injuries. They develop physical prowess, interpersonal skills, and character traits–including grit, discipline, and the capacity to consistently perform under physical and mental strain–that are just as valuable as purely “intellectual” competencies. Variety is critical to every community, and athletes help to provide it here.
Also, how else does Yale compete with its peer institutions in such a visible manner? Our victories are symbolic of the strength of our school, and our losses, our weakness. Furthermore, in a conference where all schools uphold a similarly exceptional standard for academics, we should want to excel in sports. And, yes, we excel in other disciplines, from debate to orchestral music to artistry, but sports have a broader and more visceral appeal. Our wins in football, basketball, and soccer are celebrated on campus, on Fizz, and on national media. When Yale wins The Game, any casual observer can sense the joy and enthusiasm that pervades our community. Even students who don’t know what a touchdown is, or “don’t attend to watch any particular athlete,” will storm the field after a win against our archrival.
Athletics don’t just bond current Yale students — they tether alumni to the institution, creating connections between Yalies of past, present, and future. At 12:00 PM today, dozens of watch parties will commence across the country. Alumni of all ages will come together and rejoice as Yale (hopefully) scores its winning touchdown, and we’ll celebrate with them from Harvard Stadium. And when our own bright college years are behind us, we too will come back for Harvard-Yale, to reminisce and reconnect.
We concede that Yale has become less focused on athletics over the years; Yale abolished its mandatory physical education requirement over sixty years ago, for one. But that does not mean students have become less dedicated to following sports on campus. In fact, with the advent of technology that provides sports data in real time, students and alumni might feel more of a connection with athletics than ever before. The majority ignores the role of athletics in forming and maintaining an institutional community that spans generations and continents.
We implore the majority to support athletics at Yale. Attend matches so the bleachers are no longer “mostly empty.” Wear face paint and cheer, and post jubilant messages on Fizz when we win today. But please don’t ignore the critical role that athletics plays in Yale’s culture and community when you’re partying at MIT frats because of the opportunities our recruitment process provides.
Lean in, don’t bow out.
This editorial was written by a dissenting minority of at least three members of Publius. They can be reached at publiusatyale@gmail.com.
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