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The Athletics and Physical Education Department’s proposal to give students academic credit for varsity sports is one step closer to passing after the issue was brought before faculty members on Feb. 17. Because President Catharine Bond Hill ruled that this proposal constitutes a major policy change, it cannot come to a vote until the next faculty meeting on Mar. 24, where it will need a majority vote to pass.
At the meeting, faculty members raised multiple concerns over the implications of passing such a proposal. “Some issues had to do with scheduling,” explained Dean of the Faculty Jonathan Chenette. “What does this proposal say about priority? Traditionally, normal courses receive priority,” Chenette continued.
Normally, when a student has an athletic event and a class scheduled for the same time, the class takes precedence. “Coaches support that principle,” said Chenette, but “it’s hard for a faculty member to say ‘no’” when a student asks them about missing class for a game.
Should this proposal pass, some members of the faculty are worried that the half credit awarded for athletics might tip the scales and make it harder for faculty members to reject some students’ desire to prioritize athletics over academics.
However, many members of the student body respect the fact that academics need to take precedence over athletics. “I was deeply moved by a student who said ‘I came to Vassar because, although I am an athlete, being an athlete comes second to being a student,’” said Chenette.
“There is concern that if this ‘extracurricular’ activity is awarded credit, student groups in other areas will want similar recognition,” wrote Vassar Student Association (VSA) Vice President for Academics Stephanie Damon-Moore ’11 in a statement that was read before the faculty members. “However, varsity athletics are currently the only area of the College in which student performance is overseen closely by faculty members that does not already get awarded credit. Activities commonly considered extracurricular that are overseen by faculty members and already do receive credit include Drama Department shows, voice lessons, jazz ensembles, Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre, etc. In light of this credit inequity, extending the physical education credit to varsity athletics appears to be not only logical but egalitarian.”
“Another question was raised about why we [should] award credit for physical educationanyway,” said Chenette. “One argument [in favor of the proposal] is that [varsity sports are] more intense than physical education,” so it does not make sense to award academic credit for the former and not the latter.
“Personally, I think that there are compelling reasons to [award credit for physical education],” said Chenette. “Important learning goes on in physical education and dance class and music lessons, and we need to embed these forms of learning into our culture.”
“Due to [the] institutional history of recognizing the value of [physical education] courses and encouraging students to take them, it is the belief of the student body that participation on a varsity team should be considered a fulfillment of these additional two credits,” wrote Damon-Moore in the statement that was read before the faculty members. “Indeed, with all due respect to the excellent [physical education] courses offered at Vassar, students and faculty-coaches agree that varsity athletics entail a much greater time commitment and level of engagement than the twice-weekly [physical education] classes,” she continued.
“If I were to vote, I would be in favor of the proposal,” said Chenette, although he is unsure which way the faculty will vote. “I can almost guarantee that it won’t be a unanimous vote,” he continued. “I hope that there is spirited and well-intentioned debate.”
According to Damon-Moore, at the Feb. 21 VSA Council meeting, faculty members seemed fairly evenly split on the issue.
Should faculty members vote against the proposal, the Athletics and Physical Education Department will not be able to bring it back before the full faculty this semester and likely won’t be able to do so in the future unless they include serious revisions based on the faculty members’ criticism of the policy.
Proposals such as this have been shown to function at other academic institutions. Granted, of Vassar’s seven peer institutions that do not maintain a physical education requirement like Vassar, only Oberlin College offers credit for varsity sports, but other schools that do require students to fulfill some manner of athletics requirement usually count participation in a varsity sport toward that requirement.
“As someone whose own career has been in the arts,” said Chenette, “I think that we need to think long and hard about different forms of learning…As long as there’s faculty support we owe it to ourselves [to award credit.]”
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