The fellow sitting next to me had, for 30 years, attended every home game. He came clad in school gear, proud to wear his alma mater’s colors. His wife did him one better-she sported a knit sweater celebrating the university’s academic and athletic successes. When her team scored, she cheered loudly. Conversely, when the opponent made a bucket, her husband hissed. He also provided the kind of informed commentary-“where’s the defensive hustle,” “they’re not making enough passes,” and “be patient against the zone”-true basketball fans appreciate.
Hundreds if not thousands of students remained standing throughout the game, demonstrating support for their team and their hopes for its fortunes. During timeouts, fans cheered, cheerleaders danced, and dance team members moved. Never a dull moment. It didn’t hurt that the hosts, the Indiana University Hoosiers, were taking it to the guests, the University of Michigan Wolverines. Indiana, losers of five straight, had desperately needed the victory over conference co-leader Michigan. For my friend and I, Washington University students accustomed to small crowds and perhaps smaller stakes, the lively atmosphere was a welcome change. As was the tradition, the camaraderie, and the sense of community in Assembly Hall. Midway through the first half, I shot my roommate an enthused look, and then suggested, “I’m most definitely going to a law school with a Division I basketball program.” His reply? “You sure its not too late to transfer?”
Yes, because our time has passed. We are second-semester seniors. But WU could yet give us (further) reason to remain engaged in campus life following graduation. The school could bump one of its sports teams, likely but not necessarily basketball, into Division I. Unprecedented? Far from it. At Johns Hopkins University, an institution surprisingly similar to our own, men’s and women’s lacrosse are Division I while all other sports are Division III. Both programs are among the nation’s best every year. Thousands of students and alumni flock to home games. And although lacrosse is often not perceived as a top-tier sport, the teams’ successes have generated a dedicated following and sustained long-term interest. Likewise, at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York, the school through which I studied-abroad, men’s hockey was for years the only Division I program. Recently, however, its triumphs prompted the school to upgrade women’s hockey. The result? In only four years, the team, previously a Division III powerhouse, won its way into their first-ever Division I “Frozen Four,” before eventually losing in the national championship game.
Could such positive experiences be replicated at WU? If history indeed repeats itself, then I would answer in the affirmative. In the first half of the 20th century, our football team played in the Missouri Valley Conference against the likes of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. Similarly, our basketball club also competed in the MVC for numerous decades, against the likes of Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. From 1962-1965, the Bears made three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances. New Year’s Bowls and March Madness here we come?
Perhaps. The advantages would be many. Students, alumni, and the larger St. Louis community, would take a greater interest in the university and its academic, athletic and financial affairs. Greater numbers of alumni would return for class reunions. Contributions and donations would rise. As would the number of student applications, buoyed by “free media” coverage of a now nationally competitive and renowned university. On campus, we would not need “red alerts” to generate interest and enthusiasm about university athletics. Thousands of fans would regularly attend games. “School spirit,” the ever-desired intangible, would materialize. As would bookstore sales of university clothing, merchandise and memorabilia.
But there might also be disadvantages. Would attendance at home games for the non-Division I sport teams suffer? Would problems arise between Division I and Division III athletes and between students and student-athletes? Would WU recruit and admit athletes of lesser academic standing than the balance of the student body? Yes, no and maybe. In each case, however, I believe the downside can successfully be mitigated against; witness the Johns Hopkins, St. Lawrence, Stanford or Duke (to name but two more schools respected for both academic and athletics) experience. Other concerns-which sport to upgrade, what league WU might join, and how to fund team travel-could likewise be appropriately addressed.
A greater risk might be the loss of a tremendous program. Each of WU’s sports teams has been enormously successful in recent year. Women’s volleyball, men’s tennis, women’s soccer, and co-ed track and field, to name but a few, have all made their mark nationally. And locally: the student-athletes I know are both great people and great players. The danger then, is that in bumping a single sport into Division I, we’d lose that which we have-and not realize what he had until after it was gone.
But life, and administering a university, comprises a series of decisions, of balancing risks against rewards. The best leaders know when their hand, by virtue of a sizeable endowment, a successful sports program or two, and a rising national ranking, is hot. And they then play their cards. Because on the table are 30 years of memories and one knit sweater.