As many of you know, Wes and I both attended Davidson College and graduated in '01. We met there, fell in love there, and like good Davidson graduates, married each other (because that's what Davidson graduates do -- marry other Davidson graduates and then send "legacy" students back to go to college there). While we were there, Davidson was 1600 students, though it's now "surged" to 1700. We both attended on lots of scholarship and financial aid, given the $35,000+ price tag of the school, and we both appreciate the education we received there. Moreover, we are somewhat nostalgic about our Davidson experience. It's not a perfect school, it's certainly not perfect for everyone, but it was a special time in our lives.
So it's very strange, if also exciting, for us to hear and see Davidson in the news so much recently because of the school's success in the NCAA Tournament. For those who haven't been following, Davidson beat Gonzaga, then Georgetown, and now Wisconsin. Davidson goes into the Elite 8 as a #10 seed in their division. All of the remaining teams, including Kansas, whom Davidson plays on Sunday, are from big, sports-program schools.
A writer from the Sun Times did a nice job in a piece this morning addressing the excitement and unique nature of this accomplishment by the team, led by sophomore Stephen Curry, the son of a former Charlotte Hornets player:
DETROIT -- Am I hallucinating? Is this some sort of basketball Pleasantville coming to life in an 80,000-seat football dome? Can a private liberal-arts school from down Mayberry R.F.D. way, where all 1,700 students have their clothes cleaned for free at the Lula Bell Houston Laundry, actually advance to the almighty Elite Eight behind a puberty-faced shooter rooted on by a bling-covered LeBron James?
Close the eyes, open them. Slap the face, conk the forehead.
It's no fantasy.
Much of the world is a lie, with the b.s. quotient rising in my world and yours, but rest assured that Curry is no myth and Davidson no fleeting folly. How spectacular to see March Madness, diluted by sluggish television ratings and a certain big-program predictability, officially produce the story America can embrace. North Carolina and Memphis and UCLA probably will reach the Final Four as top-seeded behemoths, so wouldn't it be wonderful if Curry and the Wildcats, cheered on Friday evening by hundreds of students whose tickets, bus fare and rooms were funded by the school's Board of Trustees -- why couldn't I go to a college like that? -- joined them with one more crackling victory Sunday over Kansas?
While part of me revels in the excitement -- I left a debate tournament early yesterday to watch the game, something I would never in a million years have predicted I would do --the other part hopes that all this excitement doesn't change who and what Davidson is. The publicity the school's getting with all of this is great. Davidson is somewhat unknown outside of the southeast, and it's a very, very good school. People know it because it dominated college quiz bowl in the 70's. And while basketball is arguably the most competitive sport at the school (and the only sport that awards full scholarships), it's only known by real die-hard fans who watch the tournament every year, starting at the early brackets where, when Davidson even makes it in, they usually lose and drop out. Sports success has shown to increase a school's name recognition and increase applications, which both seem like fine things. So why does it somehow bother me?
I think the reason all this basketball hoopla worries me is that I don't want it to change Davidson. I picked the school in some part because it's not a big sports school. Sure, a lot of students there play sports, but it doesn't dominate the school culture. Players don't miss class to play in games (until this tournament), students don't sleep outside the box office to get tickets for games (until this tournament), and no one really walks around campus in that "larger than life" way that many sports stars do. The campus is and always has been about students' education -- teaching and learning and research, and producing future doctors, lawyers, professors, teachers, and government officials -- not future NBA draft picks. When the football team (the only Division III sport at the school) went undefeated my senior year, it was really fun and exciting -- but only a blip on the radar in the grand scheme of the school year.
Part of me is bothered by the fact that people now know Davidson because it's "that school" in the tournament rather than its top-ten national ranking as a private liberal-arts school or it's kick-butt admissions (only 10% of those who apply are accepted) or its honor code or the great faculty who still email you five years after you graduate just to see how you're doing. Perhaps it is my great big-sports aversion that makes me rebuff this. I have personal issues with the way sports stars are lauded in this country -- over-revered, overpaid, overappreciated. And while this kid Curry doesn't seem to fit that mold, I can't help but wonder if he and the team could be held up to that image by other students anyway.
Supposedly, Chelsea Clinton visited Davidson in 2000 and would have been in my class had she decided to attend. For the same reason I'm glad she didn't, I worry about the success the basketball team is having. With any luck, it will be an exciting, one-in-fifty-years blip on the school's radar that enhances the school without changing all the wonderful things about it.
4 comments:
So...will it be Coach Self and the Kansas Jayhawks or Davidson to the Final Four?? :-)
Well said. I would hate for all of this attention to change the school we went to.
You've gotta be kidding. We had this debate in genre studies in 10th grade.
How can you argue that Davidson making it to the Sweet 16 is a bad thing? "Oh, it's going to change the school I went to about 10 years ago."
Seriously think about that. You're school is getting recognition from OUTSIDE resources. No one is going to appreciate a school for all the same reasons. I appreciate ODU because of its committment to diversity and international education. Others appreciate it for it's kickass women's basketball team. Others appreciate it because of it's engineering program. And some just like it because it's in ghetto. But what difference does it make that the school is perceived and appreciated differently by different people? It all amounts to one thing: Students in the United States are getting a college education and bettering themselves.
Yeah, Davidson may have one of the most elite acceptance rates, but that's what YOU appreciate it for. I bet the kids who play sports don't see it that way. Especially the ones who received a full ride for basketball. I mean, how many of those kids wouldn't have been able to go to Davidson and receive that amazing education had it not been for basketball? Quite a few, I imagine.
To me, it's a bogus argument to say that this isn't good for the school. I mean you even said in your post that the school is getting a lot more publicity and revenue because of them advancing in the tournament. How is that a bad thing? Just because a few bimbos want to think they're better than everyone because they can shoot a basketball or throw a football isn't going to change the dynamic of the institution. It just means that you're school is going to be recognized for other things along with its superior academics. And, fathom this, if you're school gets more fame and recognition how many more students are going to apply? Thousands more. This is a great thing because then Davidson could make their academic standards even higher. More competition, greater diversity, more revenue, more scholarships, more Davidson graduates. More Liz's and more Wes's, and who doesn't want that?
No, but seriously, people who argue that this is a bad thing are the people who are holding the school back from it's true potential - to be a high-quality educational institution that can produce the best of the best athletically and intelligently all in the same person.
I don't think you're entirely understanding my argument, Knikki. First, I didn't say it IS bad thing. I said it worries me, ie. could be a bad thing. If Davidson were to have a consistently great(er) basketball program, and the other issues I raised went unchanged (or only improved), I wouldn't see that as a problem. I would see that as a great offshoot of the team doing so well. If the school receives more stellar applications and becomes even more selective and rigorous, wonderful. What I fear/ed is that a prominent team would gain too much attention at the school and overshadow what the school is really there for (and in my opinion, every college/university is there for). If the sports teams start missing classes to attend all these high-profile games, and consequently aren't held to QUITE the same standard as anyone else, I see that as stripping the integrity of the school. Likewise, when you talk about athletes being admitted for their skills -- that's fine to a point. But you have to realize that the rigor of a school is the product of the students. If the school starts letting in more and more underqualified applicants becuase they can ball (and mind you, I'm not asserting that all athletes are dumb or that good ball players, especially at Davidson aren't as smart as the rest of the populace), then that does affect the quality of the school. Does the make sense?
Like our conversations in 10th (and 11th grade, which is when we had genre studies), you have to read CAREFULLY.
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