Academic Ethics And College Sports
...As schools work to compete with one another not only in the game itself, but with obtaining and maintaining the best recruiting prospects, ethical academic behavior has become suspect in many of the major programs throughout the country.
According Executive Director Tim Dodd of the Center for Academic Integrity based at Duke University, nearly 70% of undergraduate students admitted to have cheated at least once during their academic career. An alarming 25% admit to being academically dishonest habitually (five times or more). Shockingly, these incidents provide passing grades in order to attain a degree. What does that say for the student’s professional credibility? It is very apparent where his or her personal integrity stands (Pope, 2007). Student athletes are no exception to this. Who is responsible for this “jock” stereotype that these athletes carry? Should it be the system that has encouraged them to work hard on the athletic students who turned in the assignment beyond its due date had a 10-percent reduction court or field and yet disregard grades? For example, basketball stars at a private four-year college in Chicago, IL were given an extension on a class project with no penalties while non-each day it was late. The unfair treatment went beyond written work. Attendance also contributed to students overall grade, but student athletes who barely attended classes and rarely turned assignments in on time, had higher GPAs than pupils that met the college’s written academic requirements.
Another consideration that can adversely affect student athletes is his or her background. A significant amount of at-risk and minority students are geared towards sports as extracurricular pastimes as opposed to being in the street and getting into trouble. These students are already at an academic disadvantage in comparison to well funded communities...
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