President Chopp Responds to Article in The Chronicle of Higher Education
President Rebecca Chopp, chair of the the Centennial Conference
Presidents Council, responded to a recent article in The
Chronicle of Higher Education "Who's In Charge of Sports? Maybe Not the
President." Her response, on behalf of the Council, is that the
member institutions of the Centennial Conference have been true to
their mission statement, which says: "The supervision and oversight
of the athletics programs is vested in the president of each
institution. Intercollegiate athletic programs are an integral part
of the life of the member institutions and complement their
educational objectives."
Read President Chopp's complete statement below:
----------------------------------------------------------
To the Editor:
For 20 years, the member institutions of the Centennial
Conference—Bryn Mawr, Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall,
Gettysburg, Haverford, McDaniel, Muhlenberg, Swarthmore, Ursinus,
and Washington Colleges, along with the Johns Hopkins
University—have been true to their mission statement, which
says: "The supervision and oversight of the athletics programs is
vested in the president of each institution. Intercollegiate
athletic programs are an integral part of the life of the member
institutions and complement their educational objectives."
We may not oversee one of the 25 biggest athletic departments in
the country ("Who's in Charge of Sports? Maybe Not the President,"
The Chronicle, September 3), but we do offer well-rounded
offerings for a large proportion of our students. In fact, the
percentage of students involved in intercollegiate athletics is
larger in the Centennial Conference than the Big Ten or
Southeastern Conference.
According to Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act data available
online, Big Ten schools in 2010 had 7,368 students on team rosters
out of a combined enrollment of 308,346—2.39 percent of the
undergraduate population. The SEC had 5,633 participants in a
combined enrollment of 224,533—2.51 percent. Compare that
with the Centennial Conference. For the 2010 reporting year, 5,572
out of 22,535 students participated in intercollegiate athletics,
or 24.73 percent—nearly a quarter of the conference's
undergraduate population.
The Centennial Presidents Council meets annually to set major
policies, act upon recommendations of policy matters from athletics
directors, approve the conference budget, and approve personnel
recommendations. Individually, the presidents also have the
ultimate responsibility for the conduct of the intercollegiate
athletics programs at their own institutions.
Together, we have championed NCAA legislation eliminating
redshirting and controlling the length and scope of the
nontraditional or off-season. We take our oversight role very
seriously.
We are disheartened when the public confuses Division III
athletics with the Division I commercial-athletics enterprise. In
Division III we do not offer athletics scholarships. Our athletes
are students first. And we are proud of the fact that all
Centennial Conference members have four-year graduation rates of
over 67 percent and nine of 11 members have rates above 75
percent.
We take great pride in our involvement with our intercollegiate
athletics programs, and we cheer for and have great respect for our
students who participate in sports. We recognize that our students
learn much on the playing field. However, our students understand
that our highest priority is to provide them with an excellent
academic experience.
Rebecca Chopp
Chair
Centennial Conference Presidents Council
