On Thursday evening fans across the country will watch dozens of college students battle it out on the basketball court as part of the Sweet 16.
“It’s a lazy approach to admissions if you get a disproportionate number of your black men on campus from athletics.” — Sara Garcia, Center for American Progress In comparison, white men are more likely to gain entry to these schools — which in addition to their athletic prowess are often good academic institutions — through both the traditional admissions process and sports that bring less money to their schools and put the students at less risk of injury.
Top colleges appear to be failing at educating the most diverse generation in American history The fact that athletes represent such a large share of black male students on top college campuses underscores a broader trend of segregation in higher education. Students of color and low-income students are more highly concentrated in community colleges or regional four-year public schools that don’t have as many resources to help their students make it through to graduation.
Black men often get a bad deal in college The role of college athletics in this dynamic is particularly pernicious, Garcia argues, because the visibility of black male athletes compared with their relatively low levels of representation in their colleges’ student bodies overall can reinforce stereotypes that sports are perhaps the best and most viable path for black men to access higher education.
Nonetheless, that college athletes represent a large share of black male students on many campuses indicates “a major problem,” Huelsman said, adding “that means we have very few pathways for students of color” to access these schools.