Jackson: Big-time colleges care more about money and winning than black athletes getting degrees

[BleedGopher]

per Jackson:

The tragic stereotype that the only thing a black man can be is an athlete — and a dumb one at that — tortures the nation’s psyche, perpetuated by the very institution charged with enlightenment, the American university.

In my 24th annual Graduation Gap Bowl, the story expands well beyond the graduation rates of African American athletes and the incessant racial disparities within teams where the rates for black players usually lag well behind those of white players.

What’s now equally unavoidable is this: no matter what the graduation rates, the only smart black men allowed on campus are athletes.

To be sure, the disparities remain in some cases ridiculous. Top-ranked Louisiana State went into the college football national championship game versus Clemson with a NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 59% for its African American football players, compared with 92% for its white football players. Semifinalist Ohio State had a 56% graduation rate for African American players and 83% for white players.

Clemson, which lost the title game to LSU, had the highest African American graduation rate among the four teams of 74%, but that still paled to the 100% for white players. Semifinalist Oklahoma had similar disparities, graduating only 68% of African American players while graduating 92% of white players.

The average racial disparity of 27.5 percentage points from the top teams is a reminder that no matter how much the overall graduation rates have improved over the years, the top-tier teams still turn a blind eye to their acrid academic atmosphere. It should be unacceptable that LSU and Ohio State graduate barely more than half of their black players while graduating most of their white football players.

Big-time colleges care more about money and winning than black athletes getting degrees

The tragic stereotype that the only thing a black man can be is an athlete — and a dumb one at that — tortures the nation’s psyche, perpetuated by the very inst…

theundefeated.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[CWCWCW]

Interesting. I didn't find MN results in a quick Google search. Anyone happen to know?
I would think PJ would be keenly aware.

 

[Taji34]

This was in the article:

This expectation of perfection and near perfection for white athletes on and off the field is exemplified by this: While 49 bowl teams had a graduation rate ranging from 88 to 100 percent for white players, only eight programs had the same range for black players (Boise St., Temple, Louisville, Navy, Utah, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Tulane).

So we're one of the 8 programs where there isn't a huge disparity between the graduation rates of white and black players.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Interesting read but feel like the author is trying to make some very different points. The first part about athletes not graduating would somehow imply that schools don't support the education of their black players the same way they do with their white players. I find that very very hard to believe. Athletes have a massive academic support structure available to them. If a player doesn't graduate that is on them far more then the school.

This one bit didn't surprise me though:

"This expectation of perfection and near perfection for white athletes on and off the field is exemplified by this: While 49 bowl teams had a graduation rate ranging from 88 to 100 percent for white players, only eight programs had the same range for black players (Boise St., Temple, Louisville, Navy, Utah, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Tulane)."

The remainder of the article focuses on the disparity among the lack of non black athletes in the general population at many colleges. That is an entirely different issue then the graduation rates of black athletes compared to their white counterparts.

 

[Gold Rush]

I do not think colleges are trying to get white athletes a degree more than the black athletes. It DOES fall on the athletes themselves to get a degree. It is possible there are more black athletes using college as a stepping stone to the NFL and a college degree is completely secondary. I do not have the answers to this one.

These are interesting statistics though and do warrant some attention. PJ Fleck is doing it right though and should probably present these statistics when doing home visits. That would probably score some points for him right there!

 

[BeerFueledFF]

Since there are schools that are both decently successful both in their racial graduation rates and on the football field (including Minnesota), it seems that there is likely some underlying cultural issue at some of the larger "Blue Blood" schools where academics isn't made a focus for all football players.

It doesn't surprise me though, since most Blue Blood programs operate with budgets and infrastructure that make the idea of them being amateurs a complete joke.

 

[Maverick]

Another point to consider is that players (black and non-black) who leave early for the NFL (maybe transfers too?), are also counted in the "not graduated" totals, yet these numbers are never separated out which would in my opinion give a much clearer picture of how a university is truly doing with graduation rates. Here is a copy and paste link and a quote from an article in that link.

DI student-athletes graduate at record high rates

www.ncaa.org

"The Division I Board of Directors created the GSR in 2002 in response to Division I college and university presidents who wanted data that more accurately reflected the mobility of college students beyond what the federal graduation rate measures. The federal rate counts as an academic failure any student who leaves a school, no matter whether he or she enrolls at another school. Also, the federal rate does not recognize students who enter school as transfer students."

 

[LakerFan]

What’s now equally unavoidable is this: no matter what the graduation rates, the only smart black men allowed on campus are athletes.

If your going to make this statement it would be nice to support it with some evidence that smart black men who apply to schools are being denied admittance. Anecdotally showing that they aren't there doesn't support that they aren't allowed there.

 

[MNVCGUY]

If your going to make this statement it would be nice to support it with some evidence that smart black men who apply to schools are being denied admittance. Anecdotally showing that they aren't there doesn't support that they aren't allowed there.

Very true. Any school that is not admitting students based on their skin color should certainly be called out on it. But the author doesn't really offer anything in support of this.

On a side note, as the transfer portal expands there will probably need to be some consideration given to how these graduation rates are reported. If a student chooses to leave on their own the school shouldn't be dinged for that student not graduating.

 

[Veritas]

What, are we suppose to hand out degrees based on race? Based on football ability? Based on what? I thought it was based on which people have the academic and personal qualities to do the job of earning a university degree. In fact, I insist.

 

[Pompous Elitist]

Wow, where to start with the conclusions and nonsensical logic of the author. Angry about campuses with majority black teams having a higher ratio of athletes to student than whites...hmmm. What is your solution? Have team quotas reflecting state or national racial makeup?

Agree on cultural issues at play.

What are the characteristics of the entering students? Where are the numbers coming from?

This sort of inflammatory stuff is not helpful to anyone.

 

[Veritas]

Wow, where to start with the conclusions and nonsensical logic of the author. Angry about campuses with majority black teams having a higher ratio of athletes to student than whites...hmmm. What is your solution? Have team quotas reflecting state or national racial makeup?

Agree on cultural issues at play.

What are the characteristics of the entering students? Where are the numbers coming from?

This sort of inflammatory stuff is not helpful to anyone.

Who, like the author of this article, could believe that there is a correlation between being a top one tenth of one percent athlete and a top 20 percent student? Both are measuring nearly totally different skills. A person might be both, but is far, far more likely to be neither or one or the other, not both. In order to compete on the field we must recruit top athletes who are often not top 20 percent students.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

I'd love to see some long term outcome studies.

There's lots of guys even getting degrees and folks say "there ya go they're better off" ... but they like from UNC who took fake classes and wrote a half page paper because they watched a movie... UNC might be well thought of but I'm not sure these guys last long or even get hired at a job for long if they've got paper ... but aren't being taught anything.

Maybe they have paper, what happens to their lives after that?

 

[Veritas]

Who, like the author of this article, could believe that there is a correlation between being a top one tenth of one percent athlete and a top 20 percent student? Both are measuring nearly totally different skills. A person might be both, but is far, far more likely to be neither or one or the other, not both. In order to compete on the field we must recruit top athletes who are often not top 20 percent students.

I'd love to see some long term outcome studies.

There's lots of guys even getting degrees and folks say "there ya go they're better off" ... but they like from UNC who took fake classes and wrote a half page paper because they watched a movie... UNC might be well thought of but I'm not sure these guys last long or even get hired at a job for long if they've got paper ... but aren't being taught anything.

Maybe they have paper, what happens to their lives after that?

Isn't that up to them? Indeed, isn't all of everyone's life up to them to do the best they can with what their genes gave them from birth?

 

[Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0]

To play devil's advocate for a second, the cfp schools can boast the fact that a high percentage of their black players ended up with high paying careers though they didn't finish school.

 

[GophersInIowa]

"We ain't come to play school."

 

[mjfelton15]

How long do these unsupported articles need to continue being written? Seriously, who’s fault is it that white athletes are graduating at a higher rate? White people? Because the white coaches and white administrators are blocking black athletes from seeing a tutor? Come on. Look at high school graduation rates, they’re just as bad for black students there, or worse, than black college athletes. Not to get politics involved too much, but most college campuses, and high schools, are extremely dominated by liberal administrators and professors/teachers. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it’s not the coaches, administrators, or professors fault here. Starts at home. When they’re adults, these athletes should be solely accountable for their grades.

 

[highwayman]

You forgot to mention “racist articles”. Racist is racist.

 

[Deleted_User]

How long do these unsupported articles need to continue being written? Seriously, who’s fault is it that white athletes are graduating at a higher rate? White people? Because the white coaches and white administrators are blocking black athletes from seeing a tutor? Come on. Look at high school graduation rates, they’re just as bad for black students there, or worse, than black college athletes. Not to get politics involved too much, but most college campuses, and high schools, are extremely dominated by liberal administrators and professors/teachers. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it’s not the coaches, administrators, or professors fault here. Starts at home. When they’re adults, these athletes should be solely accountable for their grades.

So, you are saying "liberals" make terrible educators? Evidence?

 

[Veritas]

So, you are saying "liberals" make terrible educators? Evidence?

3% of all African-American 18 year olds are college ready in St. Paul and Minneapolis in the "math/science" area according to both the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press. Well over 50% of White students are so proficient. The annual school report shows the same pattern every year. But, that is political and we want to avoid that so stop pushing this obvious BS that education is working well in America or move the argument over to the Off Topic board.

 

[fmlizard]

There's a lot of improvement that can be made, on both the side of the institution and student-athlete. But NCAA football is still the largest and best scholarship program out there for Black males (pretty close for White ones, too), and the NFL has probably lifted more Black families into generational levels of wealth than any other organization on Earth.

 

[noamfromm]

3% of all African-American 18 year olds are college ready in St. Paul and Minneapolis in the "math/science" area according to both the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press. Well over 50% of White students are so proficient. The annual school report shows the same pattern every year. But, that is political and we want to avoid that so stop pushing this obvious BS that education is working well in America or move the argument over to the Off Topic board.

I generally don't care for your posts but thank you for the veritas in addition to keeping us on topic

 

[mjfelton15]

So, you are saying "liberals" make terrible educators? Evidence?

You need to work on your reading comprehension skills. I actually didn’t say that liberals made terrible educators. I said that the issues with black students not succeeding starts at home, and once the black student is an adult they become solely responsible for their own grades and success. What I was getting at with my part about educators being liberal was this: the education field is dominated by liberals, and liberals claim to be the ones that fight for equality the most. They claim to care about people of color succeeding. It’s what administrators are always pushing for. They even curve the SAT scores based on race. Affirmative Action was a liberal idea meant to help people of color. But if students of color are still not succeeding, then I think common sense would say there are either issues with the education system these students are part of, or it’s a cultural issue stemming from the home life and educators aren’t really to blame. I tend to fair on the side of things stemming from home, and the educators try new tactics because they feel they’re to blame. Then all of these new tactics never work because nothing is being fixed at home. 80% of black children are raised without a father as of today, compared to 25% of white children raised without a father. I think that has far more bearing on why black student athletes are not succeeding in high school and in college. It’s home life, and it’s cultural.

However, there are other reasons that I don’t care for the current education system that have nothing to do with race right now (other than history classes making sure kids leave high school thinking us white people have been total monsters throughout history). If you want evidence as to why I think Liberals make bad educators here it is.
Evidence: The downhill slide that both common sense and sanity have taken nationwide in the past few decades. To no surprise, and not coincidentally, at the same rate that college educators/high school teachers have become more open to pushing further and further left with their curriculum. For instance, try making sense of Common Core, good luck. If math was ever tough for a decent chunk of kids, have no fear, common core will be sure to ruin any chance a child has at understanding it. Developed by a liberal. Or how about the fact that you can major in Gender Studies. Tell me what successful future that’s setting anyone up for. I’m sure you know that when I say liberal, I don’t mean classical liberalism, I mean modern whacko liberalism. Like the kind that wants to throw more confusion into adolescence by saying there are 700 genders, men can have periods, that there is systemic racism, and that toxic masculinity is a real thing.

 

[GoldenRodents]

Ski-U-Mah for the Gophers GPA and Graduation rates.

 

[salzie]

You need to work on your reading comprehension skills. I actually didn’t say that liberals made terrible educators. I said that the issues with black students not succeeding starts at home, and once the black student is an adult they become solely responsible for their own grades and success. What I was getting at with my part about educators being liberal was this: the education field is dominated by liberals, and liberals claim to be the ones that fight for equality the most. They claim to care about people of color succeeding. It’s what administrators are always pushing for. They even curve the SAT scores based on race. Affirmative Action was a liberal idea meant to help people of color. But if students of color are still not succeeding, then I think common sense would say there are either issues with the education system these students are part of, or it’s a cultural issue stemming from the home life and educators aren’t really to blame. I tend to fair on the side of things stemming from home, and the educators try new tactics because they feel they’re to blame. Then all of these new tactics never work because nothing is being fixed at home. 80% of black children are raised without a father as of today, compared to 25% of white children raised without a father. I think that has far more bearing on why black student athletes are not succeeding in high school and in college. It’s home life, and it’s cultural.

However, there are other reasons that I don’t care for the current education system that have nothing to do with race right now (other than history classes making sure kids leave high school thinking us white people have been total monsters throughout history). If you want evidence as to why I think Liberals make bad educators here it is.
Evidence: The downhill slide that both common sense and sanity have taken nationwide in the past few decades. To no surprise, and not coincidentally, at the same rate that college educators/high school teachers have become more open to pushing further and further left with their curriculum. For instance, try making sense of Common Core, good luck. If math was ever tough for a decent chunk of kids, have no fear, common core will be sure to ruin any chance a child has at understanding it. Developed by a liberal. Or how about the fact that you can major in Gender Studies. Tell me what successful future that’s setting anyone up for. I’m sure you know that when I say liberal, I don’t mean classical liberalism, I mean modern whacko liberalism. Like the kind that wants to throw more confusion into adolescence by saying there are 700 genders, men can have periods, that there is systemic racism, and that toxic masculinity is a real thing.

The world was much easier when we just taught kids that thunder was angels bowling

 

[STPGopher]

"We ain't come to play school."

But he played anyway

 

[BeerFueledFF]

The story behind Cardale's "We ain't come to play school" tweet is more interesting than it appeared on the surface.

"Then a redshirt freshman at Ohio State, the tweet was pretty much all anyone knew about Jones, at least until he third-string-quarterbacked the Buckeyes to the national title in January 2015. It’s still probably the thing most people — apart from Buckeyes fans and hardcore college football enthusiasts — remember about him, even though he later explained the tweet stemmed from his frustration at receiving a B on an exam he thought he had aced."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/04/15/cardale-jones-didnt-go-to-ohio-state-to-play-school-now-hes-graduating/

 

[STPGopher]

You need to work on your reading comprehension skills. I actually didn’t say that liberals made terrible educators. I said that the issues with black students not succeeding starts at home, and once the black student is an adult they become solely responsible for their own grades and success. What I was getting at with my part about educators being liberal was this: the education field is dominated by liberals, and liberals claim to be the ones that fight for equality the most. They claim to care about people of color succeeding. It’s what administrators are always pushing for. They even curve the SAT scores based on race. Affirmative Action was a liberal idea meant to help people of color. But if students of color are still not succeeding, then I think common sense would say there are either issues with the education system these students are part of, or it’s a cultural issue stemming from the home life and educators aren’t really to blame. I tend to fair on the side of things stemming from home, and the educators try new tactics because they feel they’re to blame. Then all of these new tactics never work because nothing is being fixed at home. 80% of black children are raised without a father as of today, compared to 25% of white children raised without a father. I think that has far more bearing on why black student athletes are not succeeding in high school and in college. It’s home life, and it’s cultural.

However, there are other reasons that I don’t care for the current education system that have nothing to do with race right now (other than history classes making sure kids leave high school thinking us white people have been total monsters throughout history). If you want evidence as to why I think Liberals make bad educators here it is.
Evidence: The downhill slide that both common sense and sanity have taken nationwide in the past few decades. To no surprise, and not coincidentally, at the same rate that college educators/high school teachers have become more open to pushing further and further left with their curriculum. For instance, try making sense of Common Core, good luck. If math was ever tough for a decent chunk of kids, have no fear, common core will be sure to ruin any chance a child has at understanding it. Developed by a liberal. Or how about the fact that you can major in Gender Studies. Tell me what successful future that’s setting anyone up for. I’m sure you know that when I say liberal, I don’t mean classical liberalism, I mean modern whacko liberalism. Like the kind that wants to throw more confusion into adolescence by saying there are 700 genders, men can have periods, that there is systemic racism, and that toxic masculinity is a real thing.

Not sure I follow. This doesn't make sense. It's like saying I know we gave others a 30 yard head start, but now it is solely your responsibility to be competitive in the 40 yard dash.

 

[MplsGopher]

Whenever I read an opinion piece, the very first thing I do is see who the author is and try to figure out what their angle is, if it appears likely that they have one, in writing the piece.

The author is Derrick Z. Jackson, who I had never heard of before. Since this is a college football message board, with the OP title "Jackson:..." you'd think it was a known sports figure, like Lamar Jackson or someone.

Regardless, here are his credentials:
Derrick Z. Jackson is a Pulitzer finalist, 10-time winner from the National Association of Black Journalists and a 2018 winner from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists for his work for The Undefeated. He co-authored Project Puffin: The Improbable Quest to Bring a Beloved Seabird Back to Egg Rock.

So he's a high level journalist, but not a sports journalist.

 

[STPGopher]

How long do these unsupported articles need to continue being written? Seriously, who’s fault is it that white athletes are graduating at a higher rate? White people? Because the white coaches and white administrators are blocking black athletes from seeing a tutor? Come on. Look at high school graduation rates, they’re just as bad for black students there, or worse, than black college athletes. Not to get politics involved too much, but most college campuses, and high schools, are extremely dominated by liberal administrators and professors/teachers. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it’s not the coaches, administrators, or professors fault here. Starts at home. When they’re adults, these athletes should be solely accountable for their grades.

So basically you are frustrated with "Liberals" and you chose to vent. Not really an issue. That's what us fans do on a sports board. Just be accurate and admit that you need to post a political rant.