The Place of Athletics

Early last month, the president of Yale, A. Bartlett Giamatti, spoke to a group of Yale alumni about the place of athletics in an academic institution. By all accounts the speech was long, provocative, and generally supportive of athletics. What caught the public's attention, however, was Giamatti's suggestion that the agreement signed by the Ivy League presidents in 1954 had become somewhat tarnished. He singled out recruiting practices, participation in post-season national championships, the length of schedules, and specialization among coaches as needing reform.

Reaction to the speech among Ivy League athletic officials, including some at Giamatti's own institution, was not especially favorable. Dick Schultz, athletic director at Cornell, was quoted by the New York Times as saying, "Mr. Giamatti's plan for Ivy athletics is idealistic, impractical, and unfair to the student-athlete. It provides nothing more than an idealistic intramural league." In the aftermath, Giamatti's staunchest supporter appeared to be President Kemeny. Although he did not endorse a ban on recruiting or postseason play, Kemeny told Times reporter William N. Wallace, "I happen to be on the same side as President Giamatti. I feel that we have slipped quite badly."

The main worry for Kemeny is admissions standards, an issue which the Ivy presidents addressed last summer by voting to enforce stricter requirements. "We felt there was slippage at many schools admitting students who are there because they are really only athletes and therefore completely contrary to Ivy philosophy," Kemeny said. "There was a unanimous rededication to pull back from that."

Formal discussion of Giamatti's proposals has already begun within the Ivy League councils. The safest thing to say now is that the Ivies' attitudes toward athletics are as different as the eight schools themselves.

During the Kemeny decade, running the College included running to first base in a Softball game on the Green.