An Academic Institution???

Today was the season opener for the Georgia Bulldogs (and many other university teams), who soundly defeated Georgia State – anyone not see that coming? Several events this weekend have me thinking about the athleticization of higher education in the U.S. Surprisingly, I had great attendance in my classes yesterday. Guess those pop quizzes are working! However, as events unfolded yesterday and today, I began to ponder if the primary function of UGA is academic or athletic in nature. For your consideration, I offer the following facts (with commentary of course):

The Main Library was closed today for fear the tailgaters would use it as a pit stop. As an academic, I find the closing of the building that most symbolizes knowledge and education quite troubling. The message is clear – focus on the game rather than your academic pursuits. The even greater concern is that no one seems to care that the library was closed – except those of us who needed to use it. I truly needed to work today, but did not have access to the tools I needed for my research. Further, given that there are 10 of us sharing an office (because the university doesn’t have the space to house our department), I have a cubicle in the library where I work. Closing the library denied me a space to work. The fact that the media reported the reason for the closing as fans propensity to use it as a pit stop furthers the notion that the library now symbolizes nothing more than a restroom to our society. We visit football stadiums for fun, excitement, etc., but we visit libraries to relieve ourselves.

Students, faculty, and staff who pay for university services forfeit their rights to those services on game days. Aside from the closing of the library, I provide two examples for your consideration. First, parking increased $120 this year, but most of us forfeit our right to park on campus during game weekends (see previous blog entry). The university is prohibiting people for using their offices and the library as well as accessing facilities for which they pay fees (which aren’t cheap). Second, last evening I tried to take the dog (I’m keeping Puff while Jillian is in DC) for a walk at Lake Herrick (the nature center located next to the intramural fields). I went online and checked the parking map to make sure that I could park there (many individuals must surrender their parking spaces at 4:30 pm on Friday). The parking map indicated that two of the lots were designated for RV parking, but that the rest were open. As I turned into the drive that leads to the parking lots, I was stopped by three staff members who informed me that I was not allowed to park there. I explained that I wanted to use the walking trails (a facility I pay a fee to use every semester) and that I had checked online and the 2008 map indicated that there were some lots available. The proceeded to inform me that I was not allowed to use the facility regardless of the information on the map. Some of us pay so others may play. Note that my payment is in educational sacrifice as well as monetary forms.

Education receives massive budget cuts, but the athletic budget seems to be fine. Many states are facing huge economic problems this year, and the state of Georgia just implemented some fairly drastic budget cuts for higher education (although states such as Arkansas and Missouri seem to be faring much better). UGA is currently in a situation where it will not be hiring desperately needed faculty this year, departments have cut travel for faculty and graduate students to attend conferences to further their own education, and some departments are even cutting staff positions to decrease their budgets. My department cut one staff position, cut travel, and is trying to get us to cut copying expenses (hard to do when most of us are virtually paperless). While we cannot get alumni and others to provide funds to defray these cuts, we can get donations to build things such as the Vince Dooley Memorial Garden. True, the athletic association is monetarily independent from the university (this is the same with most institutions), but this is about principle. The state takes a hit in tax dollars, while athletic departments don’t seem to be struggling (I’ve yet to hear about any travel cuts associated with an athletic team). Have we reached a point in our society where we’re willing to fund a university’s athletic endeavors, but not it’s academic ones? The state budget cuts received about two days worth of media coverage – athletics receives an entire year. After all, news stations have sports anchors rather than education anchors. At what point did our society begin to privilege athleticism over education?

UGA suspends campus alcohol policies during game days. At the beginning of every fall semester, the UGA instructional faculty receives a letter from the provost instructing us to be careful of our discussions about alcohol in classes. Further, the campus has a relatively strict policy concerning the use of alcohol by minors (although recent media reports have questioned the equality of enforcement). However, on game days, come one, come all with the alcohol! Tailgating on campus is quite the tradition and alcohol is a must for tailgaters. What sort of message is this sending students? Clearly, if this was tantamount to the safety of students, the university wouldn't acquiesce to the desires of football fans. Would it? Do we value entertainment above education? Where does concern for the other fit into this picture?

I have come to the conclusion that, in the minds of most, institutions of higher education no longer exist to provide an education to the next generation, to seek solutions to critical social problems, or to discover new knowledge that improves the human experience. Rather, they serve to meet the athletic/entertainment needs of the masses. In no way do I intend for these comments to serve as an indictment of the University of Georgia. This is not a UGA phenomenon – it’s happening all over this nation. I am deeply disturbed by the move our society is making with it's view of higher education. At what point do we stand up and say, “The purpose of universities is education, not athletics!” In the words of Dennis Kucinich, “Wake up America!”