An Open Letter on Academics and Athletics at Colgate
If you are a former Colgate student-athlete and would like to sign Mike Yeager's open letter, please send an email to Ryan Dowgin at [email protected] with your name, class year, and sport.
- By Mike Yeager '13
During my time at Colgate, I preferred to remain quiet on my opinions about the rift between the student and the athlete sides of me battling internally for time and energy on a daily basis. I am not sure if everyone is aware of this, but being a student-athlete at Colgate University is HARD. I will not lecture on the importance of athletics in a person’s life, however the ability to attract prospective students from all walks of life who know how to work together, communicate clearly, and have the discipline to play a Division I sport benefits the university immensely with the success they will bring on and off the playing field—and after Colgate. These are people who have most certainly faced adversity, and have overcome it to succeed.
Obviously athletics at Colgate will not disappear, but the push for less emphasis on athletics will have its own consequences. The high level of competition that Colgate student-athletes are able to participate in offer a “best of both worlds” scenario where a high school athlete does not have to necessarily choose whether athletics or academics are more important to him or her because Colgate offers both. There is no better example of this than the recent rankings by the Association for the Protection of Collegiate Athletes that ranked Colgate football #1 in the nation based on a strong academic program, a successful team record, diverse academic opportunities, university commitment to the athletic program, the ability to play in front of a crowd and during the postseason, and a sufficient athletic scholarship (when a scholarship is applicable). These are the qualities that are most important to prospective athletes, and Colgate is #1! This is a tribute to Coach Biddle and his staff and everything that Colgate has to offer for bringing alumni such as myself such pride.
However, during my time at Colgate I encountered (reminder, this is my own opinion) an attitude by the administration toward athletics as a necessary evil—something that has had a long tradition at Colgate and will never fully go away, so they have to deal with it. I did not feel Colgate pride. Instead, I felt a burden. In fact, there were times that I woke up in the morning and chose not to wear my Colgate Athletics sweatshirt because I did not want my professors to perceive me in a way that would be detrimental to my academic standing. Don’t get me wrong, I was and still am extremely proud to have been a football player at Colgate; the 6 am running sessions and hours spent in the film room analyzing the opponent made the experience of holding the Patriot League Championship trophy one that I will never forget, ever. But I want to remind everyone that I signed up for it; I chose Colgate because of its academics AND athletics; I wanted to offer myself the best opportunity to succeed after my football career ended, while also playing at the highest level of competition that I could. I chose to work out at 6 am to the point that I wanted to pass out and study film until the point I wanted to fall asleep. However, I always got my school work done—always. I never turned a paper in late; I never missed an exam; I never let football get in the way of my academic standing. People who do not have the will and discipline to devote their time to succeed in the classroom and on the playing field do not belong at Colgate.
I understand that there is a disconnect between some professors and athletes because of differing priorities. Being open to differing views is something that was taught to me by a few of the professors who signed the open letter posted on www.colgateaaup.com. I truly respect the professors who signed that letter because of the concerns they hold for the future success of the university. However, I believe their approach is flawed. Simply pointing out an issue and citing other prestigious school’s methods of doing something without compromise is not—for lack of a simpler word—fair. I can look at the list of 64 professors who signed that letter (fully knowing that they constitute roughly 25% of Colgate’s full-time faculty) and bet they don’t attend sporting events when it is not an important game—maybe not ever. We walked in to big games knowing that whether we win or lose would only affect us, our families, and our faithful football alumni. I personally remember a high ranking administrator at Colgate ask our ALL-AMERICAN quarterback, Gavin McCarney, what position he played. How is this possible? A person who brings such positive press to Colgate by exemplifying how a person can be a student at a prestigious university while also being the best at something so incredibly difficult is unknown by administrators for his excellence. I was always told to try and build relationships with my professors but how can I forge a relationship where we only interact about the half of me that is a student. I, and my teammates, accepted this. Like I have said, I was a student-athlete. Obviously the student comes before the athlete. But what happens when the athlete is ignored completely? It forces student-athletes to choose and prioritize when they should not have to.
Instead of simply stating that this is a problem, I am offering a solution. Instead of saying that you, as an administrator, are cognizant of a student-athletes situation, build a relationship with that student while you are in the classroom while also showing an effort from your end to make them feel like what they do is appreciated. Make an effort to attend one sporting event per week that one of your students plays in. Understand that outside of your three hours per week with these students that they are indeed putting in more time than the NCAA maximum BY CHOICE; I want to make it known that anything performed on top of the 20-hour limit is a CHOICE. Like I said, if they cannot handle this responsibility to achieve academically in a division one athletic environment then they should not sign up for it.
One of the most beneficial things I learned from all of my professors at Colgate was how to communicate myself. This is me communicating myself and trying not to be uncompromising. Like it was pointed out in that letter, one out of every four students at Colgate is also an athlete. I do not believe the solution would be to put less emphasis on athletics. Doing so would only deter potential student-athletes who would like to come to Colgate because of its ability to offer such quality academics and competitive athletics. There is a reason that Colgate consistently ranks in the top 5 of schools with its 98% graduation rate of athletes—because of the type of people who are willing to accept the challenge that is Colgate University.
Obviously athletics at Colgate will not disappear, but the push for less emphasis on athletics will have its own consequences. The high level of competition that Colgate student-athletes are able to participate in offer a “best of both worlds” scenario where a high school athlete does not have to necessarily choose whether athletics or academics are more important to him or her because Colgate offers both. There is no better example of this than the recent rankings by the Association for the Protection of Collegiate Athletes that ranked Colgate football #1 in the nation based on a strong academic program, a successful team record, diverse academic opportunities, university commitment to the athletic program, the ability to play in front of a crowd and during the postseason, and a sufficient athletic scholarship (when a scholarship is applicable). These are the qualities that are most important to prospective athletes, and Colgate is #1! This is a tribute to Coach Biddle and his staff and everything that Colgate has to offer for bringing alumni such as myself such pride.
However, during my time at Colgate I encountered (reminder, this is my own opinion) an attitude by the administration toward athletics as a necessary evil—something that has had a long tradition at Colgate and will never fully go away, so they have to deal with it. I did not feel Colgate pride. Instead, I felt a burden. In fact, there were times that I woke up in the morning and chose not to wear my Colgate Athletics sweatshirt because I did not want my professors to perceive me in a way that would be detrimental to my academic standing. Don’t get me wrong, I was and still am extremely proud to have been a football player at Colgate; the 6 am running sessions and hours spent in the film room analyzing the opponent made the experience of holding the Patriot League Championship trophy one that I will never forget, ever. But I want to remind everyone that I signed up for it; I chose Colgate because of its academics AND athletics; I wanted to offer myself the best opportunity to succeed after my football career ended, while also playing at the highest level of competition that I could. I chose to work out at 6 am to the point that I wanted to pass out and study film until the point I wanted to fall asleep. However, I always got my school work done—always. I never turned a paper in late; I never missed an exam; I never let football get in the way of my academic standing. People who do not have the will and discipline to devote their time to succeed in the classroom and on the playing field do not belong at Colgate.
I understand that there is a disconnect between some professors and athletes because of differing priorities. Being open to differing views is something that was taught to me by a few of the professors who signed the open letter posted on www.colgateaaup.com. I truly respect the professors who signed that letter because of the concerns they hold for the future success of the university. However, I believe their approach is flawed. Simply pointing out an issue and citing other prestigious school’s methods of doing something without compromise is not—for lack of a simpler word—fair. I can look at the list of 64 professors who signed that letter (fully knowing that they constitute roughly 25% of Colgate’s full-time faculty) and bet they don’t attend sporting events when it is not an important game—maybe not ever. We walked in to big games knowing that whether we win or lose would only affect us, our families, and our faithful football alumni. I personally remember a high ranking administrator at Colgate ask our ALL-AMERICAN quarterback, Gavin McCarney, what position he played. How is this possible? A person who brings such positive press to Colgate by exemplifying how a person can be a student at a prestigious university while also being the best at something so incredibly difficult is unknown by administrators for his excellence. I was always told to try and build relationships with my professors but how can I forge a relationship where we only interact about the half of me that is a student. I, and my teammates, accepted this. Like I have said, I was a student-athlete. Obviously the student comes before the athlete. But what happens when the athlete is ignored completely? It forces student-athletes to choose and prioritize when they should not have to.
Instead of simply stating that this is a problem, I am offering a solution. Instead of saying that you, as an administrator, are cognizant of a student-athletes situation, build a relationship with that student while you are in the classroom while also showing an effort from your end to make them feel like what they do is appreciated. Make an effort to attend one sporting event per week that one of your students plays in. Understand that outside of your three hours per week with these students that they are indeed putting in more time than the NCAA maximum BY CHOICE; I want to make it known that anything performed on top of the 20-hour limit is a CHOICE. Like I said, if they cannot handle this responsibility to achieve academically in a division one athletic environment then they should not sign up for it.
One of the most beneficial things I learned from all of my professors at Colgate was how to communicate myself. This is me communicating myself and trying not to be uncompromising. Like it was pointed out in that letter, one out of every four students at Colgate is also an athlete. I do not believe the solution would be to put less emphasis on athletics. Doing so would only deter potential student-athletes who would like to come to Colgate because of its ability to offer such quality academics and competitive athletics. There is a reason that Colgate consistently ranks in the top 5 of schools with its 98% graduation rate of athletes—because of the type of people who are willing to accept the challenge that is Colgate University.
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Signed,
Mike Yeager '13 Football Co-Signed, James Buebendorf '92 Football Matt Policare '99 Football Paul Verbitsky '94 Football Adam Lock '12 Football Dave Reed '86 Football Tyler Danielsen '13 Football Daniel Basil '12 Football, Track Kevin Morgan '12 Football Caroline Potolicchio '14 Women's Hockey Mike Gallihugh '08 Football BaRack Little '12 Football Chris Looney '13 Football Christopher Young '97 Football Brian Crockett '13 Football Dan Cason '14 Football Paul Mancuso '10 Football Brendan Walsh '15 Football Austin Dier '14 Football Greg Kafaf '12 Football Lulu Brase '13 Women's Basketball Joseph Hopko '91 Football Chris Horner '13 Football Eric Tupta '09 Football Carlton Walker '10 Football Lauren Dittman '13 Field Hockey Steve McAuliff '75 Men's Swimming Alec Goldstein '13 Men's Tennis Mari Faines '15 Volleyball Patrick Letourneau '13 Men's Soccer Gavin McCarney '14 Football Tenley Barr '15 Women's Swimming Andy Heagle '13 Football Chris DiMassa '11 Football Lia Kunnapas '13 Women's Swimming Brian Soudant '97 Football Eileen Ornousky '14 Softball Sam Breslin '09 Football Emmanuel Edouard '13 Football Ryan Risch '13 Football Gabe Harrington - Strength Coach '09-'13 Jackie Adlam '09 Volleyball Olivia Rauh '15 Women's Tennis Jeremy Wurst '06 Football Rich Grant '02 Football Will Herling '12 Men's Tennis Bill Nash '91 Football Jamie King-Prunty '14 Women's Track and Field Martin Johnson '90 Football Bill Smith '89 Football, Lacrosse Elias Atamian '08 Men's Lacrosse Kelsy Hill '04 Women's Lacrosse Rob Bosco '11 Men's Lacrosse Marc Fulton '09 Men's Hockey Nicole McDonald '10 Women's Hockey Matt Levitsky '13 Men's Track Jon O'Flynn '96 Football Ashley Steinmetz Belanger '95 Volleyball Leslie Strobel '10 Women's Swimming Elizabeth Arnold '82 Field Hockey, Lacrosse Douglas Stay '67 Men's Hockey Marisa (Bond) Smith '94 Football Manager Arthur Fox '54 Football Thomas Lyons '79 Track, Cross Country Leigh Schaffler Finn '93 Women's Soccer Lori Eaton '81 Volleyball, Basketball, Softball Lindsay Pittard '08 Women's Lacrosse Missy Giusti '11 Women's Lacrosse Brendan Buglione '10 Football Kevin Osborn '85 Men's Soccer Sean Cusick '04 Golf Porscha Albert '08 Softball Stephen Jonas '09 Football Ashley (Mecone) Jonas '09 Women's Track and Field John Eaton '76 Baseball Donald Charney '89 Football Steven Simmons '91 Men's Rowing Rodney Green '88 Men's Swimming Mike Gouldin '91 Men's Swimming Emily Hepworth '11 Women's Track and Field Susie (Sweeting) Perry '04 Women's Swimming Ted McNulty '80 Men's Lacrosse Jim Allhusen '71 Men's Track Anthony Caravetta '97 Football Tom McCarroll '00 Football Bryan Pape '08 Men's Crew Tara (Casey) Hulme '07 Women's Lacrosse Samantha Inacker '10 Women's Tennis Ian Aguilar '10 Football Abby Russin '98 Field Hockey Scott Lesperance '87 Football Paul Visgilio '11 Men's Soccer Bob Relph '78 Football Robert Smoler '79 Baseball Susan Fortkiewicz '10 Track, Cross Country Christian Pesci '03 Men's Tennis Melissa (Parkinson) Pesci '03 Women's Hockey, Field Hockey Nicole Al-Greene '03 Women's Swimming and Diving Mike Namian '87 Men's Basketball Scott Avanzino '91 Men's Lacrosse Cathy Frank '81 Women's Hockey Jim Courter '63 Track and Field Erin Caretti '95 Football Todd Garvey '89 Basketball David Debusschere '97 Men's Hockey Kira Debusschere (Dirago) '96 Women's Soccer Gerard Waslen '86 Men's Hockey Loren Luddy '96 Softball Jeff Jakob '08 Men's Swimming Art Irwin '63 Football, Track Mary Charles Anderson '10 Field Hockey Eric Chubenko '94 Football Tyler Coolman '11 Men's Swimming Mike Batza '63 Football, Lacrosse Jennifer Critchley '98 Women's Basketball Dave Buran '62 Football Jesse McCarrick '10 Softball Norm Platt '64 Football, Baseball, Basketball Mike Dowgin '76 Football Laura Dowgin '06 Cheerleading Ryan Dowgin '09 Football |
Kevin O'Connell '15 Football Gretchen Polinski '09 Women's Basketball Ryan Vena '00 Football Greg Hadley '10 Football Chibuike Achuko '13 Football Ryan Marynowski '13 Women's Swimming David Joyce '14 Football, Track Kurt Roskelly '13 Football Kelly Reid '15 Women's Basketball Kathryn Taylor '14 Women's Basketball Antranig Almasian '15 Football Kate Zucker '15 Softball Tricia Oakes '12 Basketball Brendon Biddle '03 Football Mike Jasper '91 Football Alex Relph '09 Football Marc Fertik '80 Hockey Mgr., Football Staff Joe Parker '02 Football, Lacrosse CJ Stempeck '15 Football Jonathan Mputu '13 Football Jimmy DeCicco '15 Football Harlan Abeshouse '13 Football Marisa Dowling '16 Softball Luke Graham '05 Football Ryne Morrison '14 Football Ken Beitz '75 Men's Soccer Hannah Milan '11 Women's Hockey Quinneil Simmons '14 Football Carly McNaughton '07 Women's Hockey Jim Ashenfelter '73 Men's Swimming Vincenzo Nicosia '12 Football Nicole Halper '15 Women's Rugby Kendall Zaharris '13 Field Hockey Brad Oastler '06 Men's Swimming Andrew Nairin '14 Football Rick Gould '71 Soccer, Lacrosse Emma Santoro '13 Women's Swimming Austin Douglas '10 Football Dustin Gillanders '08 Men's Hockey Steven Miller '11 Men's Soccer Brandon Tinson '01 Football Patrick Friel '13 Football Sami Wary '15 Women's Swimming Joe Martin '91 Football Nicholas McKoy '13 Football Adrien Schriefer '10 Football Franco Brunet '16 Football Jaime Heilbron '12 Men's Hockey Mgr. Katie Case '15 Women's Hockey Sean McCarthy '93 Football Jim Muzzy '67 Track Pam Shelton Anderson '88 P'16 Field Hockey Michelle McCarthy '13 Volleyball David Tucciarone '11 Men's Lacrosse Clayton McCaffery '95 Men's Hockey Norman Platt '64 Football, Baseball, Basketball Hunter Southworth '02 Men's Crew Laurence Donahue '77 Men's Track David Treene '85 Men's Lacrosse Wyandt Holmes '89 Men's Swimming Paul Craig '77 Men's Swimming Justin Polk '03 Football Arthur Davies '81 Men's Crew Patrick Simonds '10 Football Cameron McNaughton '77 Men's Lacrosse Andrew Woizesko '11 Football Will Griffin '10 Football Raina Gay '96 Field Hockey Tom Rogers '82 Football Heather Young '95 Cheerleading Hilary Hooley '11 Cross Country, Track Damon Phelan '89 Football Maurice Robertson '03 Football David Traini '07 Men's Swimming Kathleen Head '08 Women's Soccer Laurence Goodman '60 Track Kevin Kurimsky '98 Football Marissa Dombovy-Johnson '10 Women's Hockey Bob Safford '79 Men's Swimming Dominic Zanot '00 Football Jon Thornton '83 Football, Baseball Heather (Collins) Houde '92 Volleyball Jaye Martin '77 Joe Pizzarelli '90 Football Dennis Kelly '87 Football Mark Murphy '77 Football, Baseball, Basketball Chris Koontz '10 Men's Soccer Richard Swanson '80 Track Robert Fox '59 Men's Swimming Cameron Williams '10 Women's Tennis Gary Marshall '11 Football Rich Burke '92 Football Julie Tarallo '11 Track, Cross Country Bill Davidson '63 Football Gail Schreier Tulcin '74 Women's Tennis, Basketball, Volleyball Spencer Cooperman '09 Men's Lacrosse Caitlin Dwyer '10 Women's Swimming Richard Sarajian '73 Wrestling George Mead III '76 Rugby, Lacrosse George McFarland '13 Men's Soccer Stephen Whitman Jr. '81 Men's Lacrosse Vail Taylor '53 Baseball Tom Fanning '88 Men's Basketball Carolyn Fanning '89 Women's Lacrosse Madeline Watrobski '09 Field Hockey Nick Monastero '09 Men's Lacrosse John Baclawski '07 Football, Rugby Raymond Masterson '74 Men's Lacrosse Kate Bergstrom '11 Women's Lacrosse Christopher Lozinak '92 Football Donald Franklin '86 Football Ron Roy '63 Lacrosse Doug Wilson '57 Soccer, Wrestling Jim Carroll '11 Men's Lacrosse Ben Kuckel '63 Football, Baseball Carolyn (Stuart) Benz '93 Women's Soccer Dirk M. Van Doren '81 Men's Soccer James Tierney '92 Football Art Brandon '60 Basketball Geoff Blyth '80 Baseball |
If you are a former Colgate student-athlete and would like to co-sign Mike Yeager's letter please send an email to Ryan Dowgin at [email protected]. Be sure to include your name, graduation year, and sport.