I used it as well. The University really does a great job of making sure that all of their students are set up for success.

Thank you so very much for your comment!!

It’s really interesting you bring this topic up, Bayou. I am just fishing up a week long event down here in Jacksonville that my company puts on every year to kickoff our yearly sales cycle. Our keynote speaker the first day was Lee Corso. He talked about a story with three recruits he was targeting while at Indiana. They all attended a IU basketball game and during the national anthem, all three of them sat in the heir chair and would not stand for the song. Corso had each of these kids taken out and sent home immediately.

The next season and for two years after that, these three kids came back on opposing teams and kicked the crud out of Corso and the Hoosiers. But in their senior season, one was arrested for theft, another for drug posession, another for an assault and the head coach at the school was fired for the controversy. The lesson of this story was two-fold. First of all, always value character over characterS. The second of which is to never prostitute your integrity to get a job or to keep a job. I feel that ND lives this lesson every day. We may not have the dynastic football team any longer because of it but we also raise and generate the best PEOPLE in the world because of it too.

I was/am impressed with what you wrote and how you have/are raising your children do be great students/athletes. You are/will be a great asset to the ND family/country as a whole and your story is compelling/uplifting.

😉

Mark – if you are going to write a letter critical of Notre Dame”s educational standards (1/29 @ 9:07 p.m.) then YOU should make sure your spelling is correct. Old coots like me spot them, cackle maniacally and then strike.

I’m not going to tell you what the mistake was – I’ll let you find it. I am a bit of a stickler for proper spelling and a bit of a nit-picker and I am criticized when I do it but in this instance it is not only justifiable – it is called for.

Thank you Lisa for mentioning the tutoring and academic support. It has been a long time since I graduated, and I did not participate in athletics while at Notre Dame, but I did avail myself of the tutoring/study sessions that were mandatory for my dormmate/football players. I just tagged along. I am sure the process has changed over the years but I sure appreciated the opportunity for additional support as a regular student.

I guess maybe I should clarify what I was trying to say in the Coker example. I was disappointed in FSU for releasing him … not in him for leaving. I think the Universities should place a bigger aspect on the student part of the student-athlete relationship. That was all I was trying to say there. I won’t use a specific student’s name in future stories.

I appreciate your feedback. Thank you!

I think there’s a point to be made that some athletes in major, revenue sports (football and basketball) and many schools that make money on these sports put a higher priority on the sport than a degree or an education. It is certainly a shame that there are ‘one and done’ college basketball players and football players that only go to college for a shot at the pros, missing a golden opportunity at an education. I’d like the universities to step up to rectify this situation.

However, I think using a specific student-athlete’s name in an erroneous example is careless and irresponsible. I would hate to have my name or my son’s name used in such an article.

I also think it’s unfair to say that ‘the majority of student-athletes are more focused on the sport than education.’ The vast majority participate in non-revenue sports and are true student athletes, who may have used their talents to obtain a free or partially subsidized education that many could not have otherwise afforded.

I know first-hand of a regular student that was expelled and admitted back after a semester. I guess we really are going downhill, huh?