OPINION: USC needs stricter academic standards for athletes
The college admissions bribery scandal has sparked widespread controversy and dominated headlines nationwide. The indictments and accusations involve numerous prestigious universities and has forever altered the college admissions game. While the methods these parents and students used are obviously devious, key changes could have prevented corruption and could halt similar efforts in the future. Universities need to establish higher academic standards for student-athletes and check the power of those in charge of athlete admissions.
It’s imperative to first recognize the magnitude of the problem facing college athletics. Nationwide, universities have granted special treatment to student-athletes by setting lower academic standards for admission. The Atlantic reported that a court analysis of Harvard University’s 2000-2019 admission data revealed that athletes received significant academic accommodations such as lower GPA and test scores when student-athletes’ applications were reviewed. The document shows that Harvard ranked applicants on a six-point scale based on academic qualifications, and that athletes with a score of four were accepted at a rate of 70 percent while their non-athletic counterparts with the same scores were admitted at a rate of 0.076 percent.
Moving forward, universities need to augment their qualifications and hold athletes to a higher standard of academics to ensure that scandals like this don’t occur again. GPA requirements and standardized test scores should be relatively similar for all applicants across the board. Universities need to close the gap between the academic achievements of athletes and other students to make sure no one holds an unfair academic advantage.
Despite the inequality of admissions between athletes and non-athletes, it’s important to note that athletic achievement is a legitimate factor for assessing a prospective student’s merit for admission. Athletic talents should be encouraged, as they promote diversity within the student body and cultivate school spirit. However, student-athletes should not be prioritized at the expense of significant equities between students. Academics for students at USC are highly regarded, and athletes are no exception to this — there shouldn’t be excess leniency.
Weighing athletics above academics when admitting students wrongfully allows people like businessman Rick Singer, who was accused of running the student-athlete recruitment scam, and the involved coaches to manipulate and abuse the process. Singer encouraged clients to take advantage of the low academic bar for athletes. From 2014 to 2018, he directed payments totaling $1.3 million in bribes to former associate athletics director Donna Heinel, who was terminated last week, to accept fake athletic recruits. By streamlining this process and virtually guaranteeing students admission, Singer capitalized off of the fact that athletes are given easier consideration.
There are various talents beyond athletics that promote diversity and benefit the student community — including marching band, chess and robotics to name a few — but none are treated as leniently as athletic talent in the admissions process. The Spirit of Troy, for example, comprises more than 300 students and is an essential component of USC sporting events. Such intensive extracurriculars are not granted the accommodations that athletes receive for displaying an equally noteworthy talent. And these students are spending just as much, or debatably even more, time and effort in developing their talents as athletes are. These disparities in treatment should not exist, and all students need to be held to the same academic requirements and standards.
Some may argue athletics benefit the University by generating revenue and fostering school spirit and that talents such as chess or robotics do little in comparison. However, every student contributes differently to the success of the academic institution — whether they are pioneering new medical treatments, breaking athletic records or maintaining strong grades while working full time. To this point, universities shouldn’t lower academic standards for athletes in attempt to bolster revenue yielded by sports like basketball and football. Universities must understand that while the desire to increase school spirit is necessary, it cannot be done at the expense of academic integrity — the foremost goal of an academic institution.
Most importantly, let’s not forget the crime that parents and students committed to dupe the system in this bribery admissions scandal. In many cases, the student was recruited to the school for a specific sport but never played once admitted. In one case, a student’s high school didn’t even offer the sport that the student claimed to play there. Reflecting negligent administrative oversight, no actions were taken to hold athletic recruits accountable and that has to change.
Universities need to monitor an athlete’s path once they are admitted to ensure their integrity. While special cases like injury can excuse athletes from play, students should not be allowed to take spots from more qualified applicants if they aren’t going to continue in the sport they were recruited for. While Brown University was not affected by the admissions scandal, there is evidence that some athletes will not continue their sport to the end of their college career. According to The Brown Daily Herald, 30 percent of athletes at Brown choose to quit their sport some time before their senior year. Just like how applying to a university with an easier major only to transfer into a highly selective major is frowned upon, athletes should not be allowed to use this method to bypass the rigorous admissions standards.
Nothing can change the sheer amount of injustice caused by the bribery scheme; however, universities can improve the process of athletic admissions. Holding all students to the same academic standard can prevent this problem from the very start and remove any more potential loopholes, allowing the true victims — those whose spots were taken — to have a chance at admission.