|
Web Exclusives:
TigersRoar
More letters from alumni
about Student
athletes
Student or athlete?
Not both
July 13, PAW Online
I take offense at George
Showman ’99's letter in the July 4 issue. Mr. Showman claims
that the “presence of recruited athletes detracted considerably
[his] Princeton experience” and that “an outstanding academic
and an outstanding varsity athletic experience… are mutually
exclusive.” The gross generalizations in his letter do a disservice
to all student-athletes.
Since I was a graduate student at Princeton, I was not able to compete
on Princeton’s varsity athletic teams. However, I did have
the pleasure and honor of being a volunteer assistant men’s
track and cross country coach from 1994-1999. During that time I
saw many dedicated student-athletes who had success both in the
classroom and on the track. I cannot speak for other sports since
I was only involved with the track and cross country teams. However,
since Mr. Showman neglected to provide any statistics or even any
specific examples to back up his assertion that academic and athletic
success are mutually exclusive, I do not feel the need to provide
statistics to the contrary. I can, however, provide examples which
disprove Mr. Showman’s claim.
Scott Anderson ’96 was an All-America miler at Princeton while
majoring in economics. His academic work was of such a high quality
that the NCAA awarded him a graduate fellowship, which he will use
to attend the University of Chicago business school this fall. Since
graduating, Mr. Anderson has run professionally, including going
to the Olympic Trials, while working as an economist at the Urban
Institute in Washington, D.C.
Craig Anne Lake ’95 was another successful student athlete
I became acquainted with during my time at Princeton. Ms. Lake has
gone on to coach track and cross country at Columbia University.
Under her short tenure, Columbia’s women’s teams have
gone from last place finishers to contenders at the Heptagonal Championships.
During that time, Ms. Lake has also received a master's from Columbia
University, and still manages to both coach and run with her team.
Peter Kimball ’98 was a Heptagonal champion in the 800 meters
while at Princeton pursuing his economics degree. After graduation,
he ran track professionally while working for the prestigious Brookings
Institution. He has since left the Brookings Institution to start
his own company involved in economic data collection and dissemination.
These three athletes are just a few of a large number of successful
student athletes I met at Princeton. In each case, their academic
and athletic success continued beyond the time they spent at Princeton.
Perhaps these were not the type of student athletes Mr. Showman
met in his classes. I find it more likely, though, that Mr. Showman
was surrounded by athletes like this his entire time at Princeton
but did not know it because he was blind to the fact that some of
his fellow scholars may have had talents outside the classroom as
well.
Jason Rhodes *96 *99
Washington,
D.C.
Respond
to this letter
Send
a letter to PAW
Go
back to our online Letter Box Table of Contents
|
