College athletic programs are certainly valuable. These programs increase school spirit and help to create a sense of community. They also help to raise money: winning teams spark alumni contributions, and athletic events raise funds through ticket sales. In addition, athletic programs – like programs in the performing arts and music – help to provide a rewarding, balanced education for all students. Student athletes make important academic, social, and cultural contributions to their schools and thus enrich the college experience for others. Finally, without athletic scholarships, many students would not be able to attend college because, as Allen Sanoff observes, the aid for which

The problems associated with athletic scholarships are numerous and complex, but they have less to do with the scholarships themselves than with the way dishonest and exploitive administrators run their programs. It is understandable that the main focus of most collegiate sports programs is winning. According to Vince Lombardi, the famous football coach, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” To the alumni, the administrators, and the fans, that only measure of an athletic program’s success is its win/loss record. A winning record attracts money and students; a losing record does not. They seem to believe, as the philosopher George Santayana has observed, “In athletics, as in all performances, only winning is interesting. The rest has value only as leading to it or reflecting it” (qtd. In Dealy 61).

Despite their obvious advantages, college athletic programs have problems. First, not all athletes—or all programs—are valued equally. On many campuses money, equipment, and facilities have traditionally been allotted to football and basketball at the expense of less visible sports such as swimming, tennis, and field hockey. Men’s sports have been given a disproportionate amount of support, and “winning” teams and coaches have been compensated accordingly. In fact, according to Sue M. Durrant, until recently it was not unusual for women’s teams to use “hand-me-down” gear while men’s teams played with new “state of the art” equ

Some topics in this essay:
Yale Harvard, Athletic Scholarships, Francis Dealy, Allen Sanoff, Sue Durrant, Vince Lombardi, George Santayana, athletic scholarships, athletic programs, college athletic, college athletic programs, student athletes, college athletes, associated athletic, dealy reports, francis dealy, academic support, associated athletic scholarships, football players,