While no doubt the intercollegiate athletic landscape is more eclectic than ever before, athletic directors hope that student-athletes remain vital participants in school culture.
Several athletic directors at this week’s 2015 IMG Intercollegiate Athletics Forum presented by SportsBusiness Daily/Global/Journal said that they saw a threatened protest by the University of Missouri football team as an example of the positive power of sports. Players said they would not play an upcoming game in solidarity with a graduate student staging a hunger strike as part of campus protests over perceived lack of attention from administration regarding race issues on the campus.
“The real obligation is to make sure that there is communication in those situations where it’s for legitimate purposes and you’re not going to be manipulated for someone’s agenda that maybe is harmful and would take away credibility for any future attempts to use that kind of platform,” said Vice President for University Athletics and Athletics Director Ray Anderson of Arizona State University. “In this particular case, I was proud of University of Missouri student-athletes, coach and athletic director for taking a stand.”
“I love student activism, and I’m so glad to see student-athletes involved in student activism about issues unrelated specifically to athletics,” Vice President and Director of Athletics Jack Swarbrick of University of Notre Dame said. “We’re educators. I want our students who are athletes engaging in the same sort of activities, having the same sort of experiences as other students. Activism on campus is an important part of that.
