Given the volleyball team’s recent victory over the No. 1 ranked team in the country, the men’s soccer team’s recently-ended undefeated streak, and attempts by students and the administration at fostering a tailgate atmosphere before football games, we feel it pertinent to comment on the state of athletics on this campus.

For most of us, the thought of college athletics evokes imagery of basketball or football at schools like Michigan, Duke, Mizzou or Stanford. With that said, we must keep in mind that there are 14 varsity sports at the NCAA Division III level here at Washington University. Each of these programs competes nationally and is normally ranked in the top 25 in the country. The men’s basketball team has had back-to-back national championships. The volleyball team and men’s tennis team won national championships two school years ago. Women’s basketball was the runner-up for the national championship last year, and softball finished second in the country three years ago.

This is especially impressive, given the fact that no D-III athlete is on an athletic scholarship. Athletes conduct research, attend the same classes and do the same amount of work as every student here. The 2008 Division III Men’s Basketball Player of the Year, Wash. U. alum Troy Ruths, had a 4.0 GPA in computer science.

The National Collegiate Scouting Association’s 2009 Power Rankings, which take into account athletic prowess, academic rigor and student-athlete graduation rates, placed Wash. U. ahead of every single Division I and II school except Stanford. We are ranked 12th in the U.S. News & World Report, fourth in the U.S. Sports Academy Directors’ Cup and 14th in NCAA graduation rate.

Division III sports are pure. There are few—if any—recruiting scandals on the scale of the University of Memphis, at which an athlete’s SAT scores were altered. Sports here have the power to inspire us with the same atmosphere of hype and competition as that of a Division I school, except that we can know the players on our sports teams and know that the emotion and dedication they put into the game are raw.

Sports at Wash. U. are free to attend and offer a means for our campus to come together. Softball and baseball home games are right next to Dardick and Nemerov. Francis Field and the Athletic Complex are less than a five-minute walk from the South 40 and the Village.

In the interest of supporting the success of our athletic teams, we encourage the student body to get game schedules at http://bear​sports.wustl.edu or through Student Life. We encourage athletes to continue urging friends to watch their games. We urge students to show their school pride—it is sad when attendance at a home game is primarily made up of the opposing team’s fans.

Moreover, we hope Red Alert and the Athletic Department expand their publicity. We all have the capacity to benefit from a more charged atmosphere surrounding our sports games.