Brand calls for reform of athletics

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Four months after IU President Myles Brand's controversial firing of former men's basketball coach Bob Knight, Brand spoke at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., warning that collegiate athletics threaten to eclipse academics. \nBrand said he plans to align the IU athletics department to reflect his vision of "academics first" and decrease the commercial and entertainment aspects of college sports.\n"We don't plan to turn off the game," he said. "We just want to lower the volume."\nBrand told the IDS after the speech that he hopes to attack the problem by hiring a new athletics director who will share his vision.\n"We also need to work on the chain of command from the president to the athletics director to the coaches," Brand said.\nHe said collegiate sports is the original form of "reality programming," complete with "real people and unpredictable outcomes." \nBrand outlined possible solutions, including downgrading collegiate athletics to a club sports level or separating them from the University.\nHe dismissed both ideas as improbable.\nInstead, Brand said he hopes to rally the NCAA, other college presidents and the IU board of trustees to embrace his vision of downplaying athletics. He referred to the National Developmental Basketball League as a favorable venue for high school graduates who hope to play professional basketball.\n"It would help ensure that those who enroll in college have a high regard for education, and not just for basketball," Brand said. \nHe also proposed integrating athletes into university tutorial systems, rather than the current system that results in "social isolation of student athletes." \nBrand said now is the time to devote special attention to women's athletics, to assure they do not fall prey to the "excesses" that he said plague men's athletics.\nBrand addressed the audience of about 200 journalists and students, as well as live National Public Radio audiences. \nHe cited media attention to recent University events as an example of the undue focus on athletics.\nIn May, when Brand announced his "zero tolerance" policy, 227 journalists and 27 television cameras rose to the occasion. But for announcements of the $105 million Lilly Endowment grant to fund research on the human genome, six reporters and four television cameras surfaced. \n"There is a disconnect there," Brand said. "University presidents believe their job is to preserve and create environments where new knowledge can be discovered, knowledge that makes life richer, more rewarding and more livable. But often the public sees the university differently."\nBrand lamented the "arms race" to build better stadiums and have the best training aids. The athletics budget sometimes cuts into the academic budget, he said. \n"If continued, this will lead to a crisis situation," he warned.\nDecreased commercialization was another item on the agenda, although it did not sit well with senior Melissa Drutis. \n"That was completely hypocritical; Knight was against commercialism, and it's gotten worse since he left," Drutis said.\nDrutis referred to an athletic endorsement by Nike -- precisely the kind of agreement Knight deplored.\nBrand defended his decision to dismiss Knight during the question and answer portion of his speech, saying he acted in the long-term academic interests of the University.\nDespite Brand's strong stance in promoting his "academics first" reform movement, Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations Christopher Simpson referred to the speech as an opportunity to talk about a global issue with the spotlight on IU.\n"The goal is not to become a leader in the reform of collegiate athletics, but a leader in the best research university in the country," Simpson said. \nIn that vein, Brand invoked the names of two alumni, Paul H. O'Neill and Roderick R. Paige, both of whom were recently named to President George W. Bush's cabinet.\nAlthough much of the speech targeted the media, it is unlikely that universities or the press will pay much more than lip service to Brand's ideals, said Dan Thomasson, former Scripps-Howard Washington D.C. bureau chief and past IU visiting professor.\n"Universities make a considerable amount of money selling boxes in large arenas," he said. "We in the media have a vested interest, too -- we love to cover it"