Letters
"I Wonder"
To THE EDITOR:
Several months ago when my distinguished uncle, Basil O'Connor '12, came to Oklahoma City in connection with the infantile paralysis trial vaccine program, he and I enjoyed a little Dartmouth reunion of our own.
Among other things we discussed the general demoralization in American colleges and universities, a condition he has noted with alarm in travelling across the nation and working with many educational administrators, and one which I have contacted very directly as a teacher since World War II.
Before long our discussion narrowed down to the most sensational aspect of this degeneration, though by no means the most significant one - college athletics. After concentrating on the various ingenious subterfuges employed by the state schools especially to find loopholes in the NCAA regulations growing out of the 1951 scandal, we asked one another about the picture at Hanover.
Neither of us could bring the other up to date on this .score, but each of us expressed our confidence that Dartmouth had maintained a sense of balance - a program of amateur athletics designed for the welfare of the student body rather than a professionalized one for the entertainment of the alumni.
After reading the April issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE, Robert L. Allen's question and answer article in particular, I wonder.
In the first place, the existence of Committees on Enrollment came as a surprise to me. Immediately, I conjured up the vast recruiting program pursued here in the Southwest by administrators who would sell education on a plane considerably lower than the peddling of beer and soap. A small part of that program entails the luring of athletes, and the most effective approach therein seems to be the establishment of alumni committees which can entice prospective athletes without having either the funds involved or the tactics used appear on college records. In short, the oilman and the cattleman now does on the sly what athletic departments did rather openly prior to 1951. To be sure, the committees out here go by different names: Quarterback Club, Touchdown Club, Activities Association, and the like. Regardless of the name, however, they; are always comprised of over-zealous and misguided alumni who inevitably traffick in cash bonuses for touchdowns scored, automobiles for bowl victories, and added wages for the successful coach.
In the second place, I found nothing in Mr. Allen's reply to question 41 ("Can enrollment groups seek athletes?") to allay my fears. Of course, "many enrollment workers will have the satisfaction of helping to interest athletes in the College." But this "satisfaction" can be a dubious one at best, and warrants the closest supervision possible by those whose "primary purpose... is not to better our yards-gained."
In closing let me say that I have reached no conclusions; indeed, my wonder is wholly sincere. If, perchance, I have become unduly alarmed, please chalk it up to an excess of sensitivity on the subject brought about by seven disheartening years of direct contact with colleges here in the Southwest. If, however, my fears are well-grounded, I cannot appeal to you too strongly to hold the fort. The athletic scandal which is sure to come will jar the faith of America in its institutions of higher learning infinitely more than the one a few years back.
Norman, Oklahoma
