Winning Isn't Everything, But ...
Posted on Jan. 3, 1983From the University Report (published by the GAA 1970-94)
Regular readers of this column will know that this is the first time I have written about inter-collegiate athletics. Some may wonder why the Alumni Director of “the University of National Champions” waited until this fifth column to discuss the subject.
I have felt that too often our alumni are seen by others only as boosters of our sports program. This is unfortunate. Even our revered Dean Smith told the Chancellor’s Club in September that “athletics is perhaps the most visible and yet least important thing the University does.”
With the elimination of the basketball program at the University of San Francisco last summer, the firing of Duke Football Coach Red Wilson, the forced resignation of North Carolina State Head Football Coach Monte Kiffin, the probation handed to Clemson University by the NCAA and the ACC, the near conclusion of the fund raising drive for the UNC-CH Student Activities Center, and now the end of our football season and the beginning of the basketball campaign, it seems appropriate to comment on these events.
University presidents across the country took notice last summer when University of San Francisco President Rev. John L. Schiavo S.J., to preserve the integrity of the institution, announced that he was terminating that school’s basketball program. Our own athletic director, John Swofford, told University Trustees at the time “that President showed a great deal of intestinal fortitude in making . that decision. Yet it is precisely that kind of leadership that is much needed in intercollegiate athletics.”
Meanwhile, after the Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA cited Clemson University for 70 violations in its football recruiting over the last seven years, Clemson President Bill Atchley, while expressing praise for the NCAA and its investigation, was reported to have described the violations as “very minor infractions” and said that people had made judgments “without knowing the complete picture.” These are unfortunate remarks from a university president whose institution has had both its basketball and football programs placed on probation in the last seven years.
Perplexing as it was to see Duke’s Red Wilson fired on the same day his team defeated Carolina, Monte Kiffin’s departure from North Carolina State was even more disturbing. It appeared to be prompted by the State Wolfpack Club’s message to NCSU’s athletic department and the university that its financial support would be more modest unless a new coach was found.
Clearly, Carolina alumni should be proud of our outstanding athletic program. The program is carried out within the rules and with a deep respect for our student athletes. Nearly 95 percent of Coach Smith’s former basketball players have received degrees, and, likewise, the percentage of Coach Crum’s football players who graduate is higher than that for entering freshmen generally.
Leadership is the key to establishing and maintaining a program of this quality. Chancellor Fordham, Athletic Director Swofford and coaches Smith and Crum provide such leadership. Chancellor Fordham’s specific suggestions for reducing the undesirable commercial aspects of intercollegiate athletics, which he offered in a speech to the Faculty Council, were later excerpted in The Washington Post, The Raleigh News and Observer, The Greensboro Daily News and The University Report and presented over National Public Radio in an interview with Sports Illustrated‘s Frank DeFord.
Coach Dean Smith is the only basketball coach serving on the NCAA Select Committee on Athletic Problems and Concerns in Higher Education and Coach Dick Crum is a trustee of the NCAA Football Coaches Association. In addition, UNC President William Friday is a member of the American Council of Education’s Ad Hoc Committee on Problems of Major Intercollegiate Athletic Programs.
Even so, our athletic program in Chapel Hill is not without controversy. Some have questioned the commitment to build a $30,000,000 student activities center, believing that at a time of reduced budgets throughout the University, it was wrong to make such a financial commitment to an athletic complex.
However, let’s remember that our athletic department is totally self supporting. Increasing the seating capacity and thus the direct exposure for our basketball program from 10,000 to 22,000 not only helps to assure that the department will remain self-supporting but also adds to the visibility of our campus. The University will for the first time have a· facility to attract major artistic, cultural, political and other non-athletic events. Visitors to all these as well as to athletic events are likely to become exposed to the academic aspects of the University.
Chancellor Fordham in a recent Faculty Council meeting expressed his empathy with those who feel that there is a misplaced emphasis on athletics throughout society. He said “we do not give thinkers, scientists, writers, and others who make lasting contributions to the public the same rewards of fame and money that we are providing to athletes.”
In conclusion, let’s not forget two other points. First, as we get caught up in the excitement and the discussions of football and basketball, remember that the more important decisions facing higher education are being addressed not in Kenan Stadium, not in Carmichael Auditorium, but in Raleigh and Washington. The North Carolina General Assembly that convenes this month will address issues with a lasting impact on higher education — the salary freeze for state employees which includes University employees, the budget for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and public assistance to private colleges and universities. In Washington, the 98th Congress will convene to address many related questions — how much will be appropriated for higher education, for student financial aid, for government grants and contracts.
Finally, let us remember that the athletic program at Carolina and elsewhere consists of more than coaches and alumni. It exists for the students — usually arriving at age eighteen and leaving at 22 . In most cases our student athletes do not go on to earn a living at football, basketball, or any other professional sport. Only the education they receive will sustain them through life. They are, as Coach Crum points out, youngsters. They have a seriousness of purpose. They are committed. They want to win. They care. Being sensitive, when they are criticized, it hurts. We need to make sure that in our excitement of the moment and our lust for victory, we do not get carried away. It is only a game.
Yours at Carolina,
Douglas S. Dibbert ’70
