Considering athletic and academic well-being
Jacob Heidenreich
graduate student, mathematics and philosophy
This letter is in reply to Vinnie Zuccaro's November 30th letter, "Good grades do not equal good football." Zuccaro's own sentiments were expressed most clearly in the statement, "Personally, I don't care if our football recruits aren't smart enough to tie their own shoes before the game as long as they can win."
This sentiment is morally reprehensible. I believe this opinion is symptomatic of a deeper problem here at Notre Dame. Here, student-athletes are held in high regard — often to the point of worship. But this worship is a poisoned gift.
In praising our student-athletes to such an extent we dehumanize them. When they do well, we praise them as excellent well-oiled machines. When they do poorly we condemn them as worthless buffoons. What we forget in both cases is that they are human beings.
To say it doesn't matter how smart or dumb our student-athletes are as long as they win does them violence as human beings, a violence that cannot go unremarked upon. This is why the above sentiment is morally reprehensible and the frequency with which such dehumanization (both in praise and in condemnation) occurs at Notre Dame is a problem here in our community.
I have had the pleasure to teach many of our student-athletes. Take it from someone who knows: football players (and basketball players and ...) are not dumb. Their education matters. We are morally obliged to develop their intellectual abilities, as well as their athletic abilities. If we did not do so, we would do violence to them as people.
Because student-athletes are human beings with many facets to their lives outside of sports, their academic performance does matter. This is why I believe Notre Dame, as a Catholic institution, should take the academic well-being of the football players into consideration when evaluating Bob Davie as a coach. I'm not saying that this should be the only concern, but it definitely should be on the board.
Jacob Heidenreich
graduate student, mathematics and philosophy
Nov. 30, 2001
All Viewpoint Stories for Monday, December 3, 2001
