arena Higher Learning?

Black atheletes are the key players in college sports. But when will academia train them to succeed in the classroom and beyond?

Some sport authorities used to say that black college sports "died" when integration took root in the mid-1960s. Before that, blacks were barred from many white institutions and establishments, and competing with whites on most playing fields was prohibited. It was the Supreme Court decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools that stimulated the racial integration of college teams in the North and South.

By 1970, there was already a disproportionate number of blacks playing on racially integrated teams, a fact that remains true even today. But it is important to remember that desegregation was also financially motivated in professional and college team sports, where people other than athletes stood to make money. Desegregation started slowly, but as soon as people of influence in sports realized that black athletes could help them win games and boost profits, the tradition of racial exclusion was abated.

With the change came a disturbing new reality. Studies indicate that blacks are more likely than whites to emphasize sports as a means of achieving prestige and economic success because they perceive greater barriers to achievement in other activities, and many of the best black athletes began to abandon black colleges for white institutions. As a consequence, black colleges began to lose the talent they once had and, coupled with lower levels of funding, became mired in relative athletic mediocrity.

When we speak of intercollegiate sports, it is important to note that they have become so diverse that we must first group them into categories. Basically, schools with intecollegiate sports can be affiliated with either of two major national associations: the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) or the National College Athletic Association (NCAA). These two associations include most of the nation's black colleges. A third group, the College Football Association (CFA), was formed by the NCAA. It includes schools with "big-time" football programs. This group has no black colleges. The so-called "big-time" programs which emphasize either football or men's basketball are potentially huge moneymakers. Only Alabama State University, which petitioned recently to become a "big-time" player in the football arena, will have the potential to make that area's big dollars.

The NCAA, with nearly 100 member institutions and over 200 affiliated conferences, is the largest and the most powerful association. Its power rests partly in the television revenues received and then allocated to its members. With the exception of the Heritage Bowl, the NCAA Basketball Tournament, or the 1-AA Football Championship Tournament, black colleges are rarely seen on national television, but they do share in the revenues.

Despite the history of segregation, the lack of television revenues and the loss of top athletes, black college sports have survived, and to a large extent, thrived. While they still receive outstanding athletes and continue to send them to the professional ranks, one of their greatest benefits is what they offer student athletes a realistic opportunity to get a degree in four years.

The NCAA reports that black student athletes at white institutions are more likely than their white counterparts to leave school with GPAs lower than 2.0 (4.0 scale). Approximately one-third of black scholarship athletes leaving school are not in good academic standing and over one-fourth of these schools have graduation rates of less than 25 percent for minority males, most of whom are black. We are hopefully asking new athletes to rethink their decision about attending white institutions and enroll in historically black colleges.

While we will always applaud the black college sports heroes of the past, there are a number of star players and programs to watch right now: Steve McNair (Alcorn State) who is only a few years removed from his Heisman Trophy run and is now the starting quarterback for the (NFL) Tennessee Titans; Rich Mahorn (Hampton), who spent eighteen years in the NBA, was recently named the assistant coach for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks; the Grambling State women's basketball team, a consistent NCAA tournament team; the eight black college players among the college draftees for the National Baseball League; and former University of Maryland track star Peter Fredericks, who will compete in the 2000 Olympic Games, representing Trinidad in three events.

Black college sports is trying to regain its glory. Check our scoreboard for some recent titles which help illuminate the histories of our great players and programs, as well as light the path as we travel into an even brighter future.