The Cavalier daily :: Monday, May 10, 1971 :: University of Virginia Library

THE FACULTY COMMITTEE ON ATHLETICS recently
issued a somewhat disturbing report on the academic progress of
students in the College on athletic grants-in-aid.

"There is no question that the performance of these students
is below the average for the whole College," the committee
reports. "However, if the Cumulative Grade Point Average is a
sufficient criterion for measuring academic performance, then the
overall academic performance of these athletes appears to be
adequate so far. On the other hand, if College Board Examination
S.A.T. scores are an indication of the academic ability of students
being admitted to the College, there may be cause for concern."

STATISTICS SUBMITTED WITH THE REPORT show that
the average GPA of GIA athletes is a full .25 under the average
for the college as a whole, and that the S.A.T. scores are
drastically lower than those for the rest of the college. The Verbal
average for athletes entering in 1970 is 98 points lower than the
overall (590 to 492) and the Math average is 68 points lower (616
to 548). Fifty-two per cent of these athletes (compared to 10 per
cent overall) had less than 499 on the Verbal S.A.T., and 24 per
cent had less than 499 on the Math (5 per cent overall).

Even more disturbing are the trends since 1966. The average
S.A.T. total has dropped 87 points for GIA athletes (43 points
for the college as a whole) and the percent of GIA athletes with
verbal scores of less than 499 has grown from 16 per cent to 52
per cent (7% to 10% overall), and from 19 per cent to 24 per cent
in math (2% to 5% overall).

THIS IS NOT TO SAY. HOWEVER, that there are nothing
but dumb athletes at the University. Some of the figures are
encouraging. The percentage on the Dean's List has grown from
15.6 in 1966 to 20.6 today, and the GPA has gone from a 2.155
average to a 2.292.

THE CONCLUSIONS TO BE DRAWN from this report are
pretty obvious. The athletes that are here now are, in general,
fairly good students. Many of them are outstanding students, as
can be seen by the fact that both football captains for next year.
Gary Helman and Andy Selfridge, are consistently on the Dean's
List. However, the admissions policy in regard to athletes seems
to be becoming more permissive as can be seen in the low S.A.T.
scores for last year's class and the rapid drop in these scores in the
last five years, most notably from 1969 to 1970 when the S.A.T.
average dropped 66 points, after dropping only 21 points (the
same as for the college as a whole) in the years from 1966 to
1969.

The final conclusion of the committee is that "If this trend
continues, then one might predict that the academic performance
of GIA students will deteriorate relative to that of the College as
a whole. This would be most unfortunate and may require that
the Faculty of the College take steps to reverse this trend."

PROFESSIONALISM HAS BEEN CREEPING into the
Athletic Department for some time now. There is increasing
pressure from all sides to win, especially in football, the major
grant-in-aid sport. As one alumnus told this writer after a
disappointing Wahoo loss last fall. "I'm all for athletic excellence,
but can't we just bring in 50 dumb football players that can win
games?"

The reply from here is an emphatic "No." An athletic program
ceases to be a part of the school when it is separated from the
average student. For Cavalier teams to represent the University,
they must be made up of regular students, not an imported group
of professionals.

IN THE UNIVERSITY'S HURRIED RUSH towards State
U-ism, it is hoped that the concept of the student-athlete, one
that has helped to make this institution remain unique, will not
disappear. There is a certain price which can be paid for
everything, including winning on the football field, and the
lowering of academic standards is certainly too large a price to
pay. It is hoped that the athletic department and the Office of
Admissions will stop the alarming trends of the past few years,
before the College Faculty must step in and do it for them.