The role of athletics and recreation at
Macalester
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by Brian Rosenberg
People send me things: some nice--tokens of appreciation, bits
of Macalester memorabilia--and some less gratifying, but either
way the reception of such items is a necessary and expected part
of the job. Among the "gifts" I received during my first
year at the college was a copy of a cartoon from the Nov. 3, 1978,
edition of the Minneapolis Tribune. Beneath a drawing of
a very young, very dejected football player walking beside what
appears to be his father is a caption--ungrammatical but to the
point--that reads as follows: "If you're playing that rotten
because you got some dumb idea you're going to go to Macalester
some day, you can just forget it."
Presumably my anonymous correspondent wanted to remind me that the
history of Macalester athletics has, at least over the past few
decades, been less than consistently triumphant--as
if I needed a reminder of any sort. From the moment of my arrival
I have been invited to ponder the past and present struggles of
our program in football and, more recently, in women's basketball
(see page 10), and to reflect even more broadly on the role of athletics
and recreation on a campus such as our own. A few of those reflections
I would like to share.
Most important to recognize is the fact that athletics form a central
part of the lives of many of our students and that it is therefore
incumbent upon all of us at Macalester to think seriously and constructively
about the subject. About one in five students at Macalester participates
in intercollegiate athletics, a far higher percentage than at nearly
any Division I school, and many more participate in club and intramural
sports. To virtually all of them, their shared experiences with
teammates, coaches and friends matter a great deal, regardless of
scores and standings.
As for those scores and standings, it is helpful to remember that
the results are considerably more varied than the conventional image
of Macalester athletics might suggest. Not infrequently we lose;
sometimes we win; occasionally we succeed on the highest level both
collectively, as when our women's soccer team won the NCAA Division
III national championship in 1998, and individually, as when Ben
Van Thorre was named a first-team Division III All-American in basketball
in 2004. Attention is paid, and rightly so, when our participation
levels in some sports are unusually low, but attention should be
paid as well to the very high participation levels in sports such
as swimming and cross country. And, clearly and consistently, our
student-athletes are student-athletes: in 2003-2004, our
women's soccer team earned the highest cumulative grade point average
of any team in the nation.
| In athletics and recreation, as in so many
other areas, we need both to celebrate our successes and remain
passionately determined to do more and better for our students.
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I am asked pretty often what success in athletics at Macalester
would look like to me. My answer is simple: a program that comprises
a meaningful, positive part of a student's educational and social
life at the college, one upon which any alumnus can look back with
pleasure and pride. From any academic or co-curricular program we
should expect nothing less.
This does not mean that we should yearn to win championships
or measure success in simple terms; it means that we should do our
best to provide student-athletes with the opportunity to succeed
and support them in their efforts. It means that any student at
Macalester, regardless of athletic interest or ability, should find
some opportunity at the college to participate in activities that
promote health and fitness. It means we should work to integrate
athletics and recreation into the intellectual and communal fabric
of the college and not imagine them as a thing apart.
In this area, as in so many others, we need both to celebrate our
successes and remain passionately determined to do more and better
for our students. We need to think about recruiting and retention,
and about budgetary support. We need to attend games and meets and
provide congratulations and comfort. Perhaps most visibly, we need
to create spaces for athletics, recreation and wellness that are
more inviting, useful and flexible than those we have at present,
the oldest of which were built during the presidencies of Warren
Harding and Calvin Coolidge.
Much more information will be forthcoming about the construction
and fund-raising plans for this project, but already I have been
impressed by the passion, energy and generosity of the alumni and
parents who are volunteering their time and resources on behalf
of Macalester students present and future. Without doubt, we will
make this happen and we will do so soon.
Meanwhile, the cartoon remains tacked to my wall, a reminder.
Brian Rosenberg, the president of Macalester,
writes a regular column for Macalester Today. He can be reached
at rosenbergb@macalester.edu.
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