Last Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal published an article about Auburn’s athletic department. Specifically, the article said there were documents showing that the athletic department had persuaded school officials to keep public administration as a major at Auburn, after it was already voted 13-0 by faculty to be eliminated. The article also states that the athletic department offered to fund the major if necessary.
Public administration has been a popular major among student athletes, football players in particular. The Los Angeles Times states “During the 2013 fall semester, of the 111 students enrolled in the program, 51% were student-athletes, including quarterback Nick Marshall, running back Tre Mason, receiver Sammie Coates and three other defensive football players, according to the report.”
In the article by The Wall Street Journal, a source from Auburn told them the “athletic department has not improperly influenced academic decision-making.” Taking this into account, it is important not to jump to conclusions without seeing the documents ourselves. However, if the athletic department is guilty of such corruption, it should not be swept under the rug.
Not only do we understand, we respect and appreciate how much money and publicity the athletic department brings Auburn each and every year. But as Auburn men and women, who “believe in honesty and truthfulness… and in clean sports that develop these qualities” as our Auburn Creed explains, we cannot bring ourselves to accept such corruption for the sake of money.
In addition, we do not believe Auburn is the only university where the athletic department has such influence, but this still doesn’t make it right.
While we are definitely not excusing such behavior, we think the way in which the NFL eligibility requirements are set up opens this door for corruption at the collegiate level.
According to operations.nfl.com, “players must have been out of high school for three years and must have used up their college eligibility before the start of the next college football season. Underclassmen and players who have graduated before using all their college eligibility may request the league’s approval to enter the draft early.”
Taking the above information into account, most NFL players play football at the college level beforehand.
Auburn should either consider using this as an opportunity to advocate for change, or find an alternative solution to this issue.
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