Rogerian Letter                                                                    Click here to read article

 

Dear Horace Mitchell,

 

            As being a student athlete I was very interested in your quick article in the US News called “Students Are Not Professional Athletes.” I understand that your stance on student athletes is that they should not be treated like professional athletes. I know that this is a controversial topic and I have always pondered the question of whether or not student athletes should receive some sort of compensation other than the scholarship they receive.

            In your article, you state “Student-athletes are amateurs who choose to participate in intercollegiate athletics as a part of their educational experience.” Is this really the case though? I think with your statement regarding that this is the case, it is very subjective, and because I am a student athlete with many other friends who are playing different sports other than me I can argue this. I feel that the reason that this is so often assumed, is because this is what people want to believe. With many of my friends playing Division I football, I can attest that every single one of them views that college is just a gateway to living their dream and playing in the National Football League. They don’t view playing their sport in college as just part of their educational experience.  Quite frankly, I think the last thing they are worried about is their “educational experience,” and this is what is in the way of achieving their real dream.

                        Another thing that I picked up while reading through your article is your statement regarding that there is a misconception of programs being profitable due to the athletes. You state that there are only a few that are actually profitable. While I do agree with you that their are only a fraction of Division I schools who are actually profiting off of their big time sports, I do raise this question to you: For the certain sporting teams who do make their intuitions profitable, do you think it’s fair for them that they don’t reap any benefits? There are certain schools making millions off of their players and I don’t think it’s fair that these certain players are held out. Along with this, I think that if you took into account that many students pick their schools based upon how their sporting teams are, it can counter your argument that although they aren’t profiting directly from their sporting players, they are still benefiting from them in other aspects.

            After reading your arguments on how you do not favor student athletes being paid or viewing them anything other than an amateur athlete I have more of an understanding of why some people think that way. I can see both points of views on this topic now and I hope you can get away some points from my prospective as well.  I believe that the NCAA should pay big time college athletes such as football and basketball players.

 

Sincerely,

 

Dylan Maltz