Yale Daily News opinion piece - Yale sports sinking into mediocrity

[bulldog10jw]

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/20...on-mediocrity/

Since the 1993-1994 academic year, Yale has won 51 Ivy League titles. In that time, only Columbia at 33 and Dartmouth with 39 have claimed fewer. That year coincides with the start of a move by Yale University administration to reduce the number of recruited student-athletes. According to a Sept. 2010 interview with University President Richard Levin in the Yale Alumni Magazine, the Levin administration has reduced the number of recruited athletes from 17 percent of the Yale’s student body to 13 percent. Levin told the magazine he wants that number to go down even more. For those few slots Yale coaches are allotted for athletes, recruiting gets harder and harder as coaches’ hands are tied not only with stringent restrictions, but also by the obvious gap in Yale’s commitment to support its athletes when compared with other schools. Simply put, it won’t be long before we don’t stand a chance.

[Ivytalk]

Total bummer. Haven't seen any comparable interviews with Harvard's Drew Faust, but I don't think her view of athletics is any different from Levin's.

[Pard4Life]

Ha! Lafayette has been way ahead of you guys... we are ahead of the Ivy at something!

Too bad because sports is the backdoor entry into the IL.

[Cleets]

Powerful athletic programs do corrupt institutions of higher learning
Coaches get too uppity - pressure is applied throughout the balance of the administration and the compromises begin...
As the monster known as college athletics slowly consumes the America university system (school after school) and corruption drizzles into every corner of the infected administrations it's nice to see Yale stand for something other than TV deals and side-stepping the recruiting process

[bonarae]

Powerful athletic programs do corrupt institutions of higher learning
Coaches get too uppity - pressure is applied throughout the balance of the administration and the compromises begin...
As the monster known as college athletics slowly consumes the America university system (school after school) and corruption drizzles into every corner of the infected administrations it's nice to see Yale stand for something other than TV deals and side-stepping the recruiting process

I agree, unfortunately. Yale is trying to put back the trust in the athletics system, as it has been years before.

In my own words...

Oh no. This somewhat makes sense considering that ONLY 5 FBS/BCS schools are truly academic-oriented according to a Northwestern-sponsored panel with two media writers recently: Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Stanford, Duke. (actually the words of Pete Thamel as he spoke in the panel)

But reducing the number of recruited student-athletes in the student body is the WRONG thing to do. Is Yale's president trying to extend admissions standards for regular students into student-athletes as well, forgetting the AI altogether? Seems that he has been trying to do such.

[DFW HOYA]

In my own words...This somewhat makes sense considering that ONLY 5 FBS/BCS schools are truly academic-oriented according to a Northwestern-sponsored panel with two media writers recently: Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Stanford, Duke. (actually the words of Pete Thamel as he spoke in the panel)

Within the BCS, Wake Forest and the Academies are right there as well. Wake doesn't get the Vitale-worship, but it's not far behind that of Vandy or Duke.

Outside the BCS, don't forget Rice.

[ngineer]

Within the BCS, Wake Forest and the Academies are right there as well. Wake doesn't get the Vitale-worship, but it's not far behind that of Vandy or Duke.

Outside the BCS, don't forget Rice.

Agreed on your additions. There are a few that still try and have the priorities right.

[Go...gate]

Saddens me a bit to read this because I remember when the Ivies were much, much more powerful in so many sports.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

1) How can you draw yourself into answering a question you posed yourself?

2) What is this but a rah-rah piece with one "fact" pulled from the alumni magazine (Levin has reduced the number of student-athletes) and a whole lot of misinformed nonsense?

Yale isn't headed to Division III.

Yale is "non-scholarship"? It has more athletes competing on financial aid than Stanford.

Building a good athletic program at Yale is a challenge? With that endowment? The Yale global brand? And, failing that, the Yale Bowl? It's most decidedly less of a challenge that building a good program at, well, anywhere else. (Georgetown. Multi-sport field.)

"The fact that Yale athletes are accomplishing the Herculean task of overcoming their comparative disadvantage while maintaining high standards academically is evidence enough of their efforts?" Excuse me while I puke in a corner. Herculean? Really? This program which fielded a Nebraska transfer QB last year?

Reading this is kind of like Mitt Romney asking me to empathize with him because he has to pay taxes and hire illegal immigrants to take care of his three mansions.

[Cleets]

1) How can you draw yourself into answering a question you posed yourself?

2) What is this but a rah-rah piece with one "fact" pulled from the alumni magazine (Levin has reduced the number of student-athletes) and a whole lot of misinformed nonsense?

Yale isn't headed to Division III.

Yale is "non-scholarship"? It has more athletes competing on financial aid than Stanford.

Building a good athletic program at Yale is a challenge? With that endowment? The Yale global brand? And, failing that, the Yale Bowl? It's most decidedly less of a challenge that building a good program at, well, anywhere else. (Georgetown. Multi-sport field.)

"The fact that Yale athletes are accomplishing the Herculean task of overcoming their comparative disadvantage while maintaining high standards academically is evidence enough of their efforts?" Excuse me while I puke in a corner. Herculean? Really? This program which fielded a Nebraska transfer QB last year?

Reading this is kind of like Mitt Romney asking me to empathize with him because he has to pay taxes and hire illegal immigrants to take care of his three mansions.

Hey Shhh....
You interrupted me while I was busy feeling sorry for Yale