Sports on Campus: Intercollegiate Sports and their Critics

College athletics have provided sports fans with many thrilling moments over the years. This chapter is an examination of the Incompatibility Thesis and, more broadly, of the value, if any, of intercollegiate athletics. The author concerns not only with the proper role of athletics on campus but with the very nature and mission of the university. The principal thesis of this chapter has been that although academic values and intercollegiate athletics may often be in conflict, especially at the athletically elite colleges and universities that pursue national recognition at the top of Division I, this conflict is far from inevitable. The role of athletics in academia can and should continue to be subject to critical scrutiny, but at the same time we should not ignore athletics' positive contribution to many college and university communities as well as the educational experiences athletics provide in their own right.