LiberalArtsOnline, Volume 4, Number 4
March 2004
Last December we published an essay by our Director of Inquiries, Charles F. Blaich, responding to conclusions that have come out of Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-sponsored studies on deleterious effects of Division III athletics on the health of education in small colleges. We received a spirited response from two members of the staff at Mellon, Eugene M. Tobin and Martin A. Kurzweil. In this omnibus issue we are glad to offer that response and two further reflections on the interrelationship between athletic competition and collegiate learning.
What about the claims that Tobin and Kurzweil make? We appreciate their interest in continuing the discussion. We also value all of the attention that the books from the Mellon Foundation have brought to this important issue. At the same time, we stand by the claims in Blaich's essay,
"What Kind of Game Are We Playing," and the larger Center of Inquiry report that informed it,
"How does the Game of Life Play at Liberal Arts Institutions?". Our suggestion is that readers have another look for themselves at our study and make up their own minds about the merits of Tobin's and Kurzeil's response.
And what is it that connects this debate about athletics to liberal arts education? We are committed to the idea, until strong evidence or compelling arguments dissuade us, that a liberal arts education is truly about the development of the whole person, not just the intellect. There is more to college than just the academic side of it - a series of courses, a collection of disciplines. Many factors make an education that liberates persons. In the American tradition, those factors have long included activities such as athletics. If the proper balance has been lost between athletics and education, then all of us should seek responsible ways to recover it. In distinctive and different ways, each of the essays in this issue takes on that matter of balance. - Frederik Ohles, Editor
Contents:
"What Kind of Game Are We Playing? -- A Response" by Eugene M. Tobin and Martin A. Kurzweil
"Disengaged Jocks: Myth or Reality?" by Paul Umbach and George Kuh
"To Miss the Joy" by John G. Ramsay
"What Kind of Game Are We Playing?" by Charles Blaich
"How does the Game of Life Play at Liberal Arts Institutions?" by Richard F. Dallinger, Robert S. Horton and Charles F. Blaich
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LiberalArtsOnline is an occasional email essay on the liberal arts, provided as a public service of the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts.
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The comments published in LiberalArtsOnline reflect the opinions of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Center of Inquiry or Wabash College. Comments may be quoted or republished in full, with attribution to the author(s), LiberalArtsOnline, and the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College.
