University of virginia
Research Results Athletics Functioning as Religion
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Research ResultsAthletics Functioning as ReligionUniversities are very aware of the importance of athletics on their campuses as a marketing tool and an alumni donation creator. Many who support athletics on college campuses argue that successful sport programs, particularly in men’s basketball and football, create identification for the school that would otherwise not be there.21 Many studies have reported that the level of success of for an athletic program means more contributions to the athletic program by boosters.22 Critics, like Murray Sperber, argue that having big-time athletics as a major part of campus life is a distraction from the overall goal of the university. Sperber writes that an administrator from an undisclosed university said that the admissions department stopped talking about the quality education a student could receive and instead focused on football Saturdays.23 Others see athletics as a way to create distinction among colleges who in almost everything else appear to be similar.24 For many universities athletic programs have become the biggest fund raising tools at a university. This creates an imbalance for the academic side of a university to rely on what many consider an extracurricular activity to raise funds. With this imbalance comes the question of how did athletics become such a critical presence in a university? What is it about college athletics that garners devotion? Michael Oriard writes, “With few exceptions, American universities became known outside their own states, if at all, only through their football teams. Even local communities tended to know nothing about the chemistry or English departments, or the university president for that matter, but everything about the coach, the quarterback, and the team's prospects for Saturday's game."25 There is not a 24-hour network devoted to a university’s chemistry department. Millions of dollars are not spent to promote the academic achievements of a university but instead are given to promote the athletic achievements of the university. For many in the United States the time, money, and effort in supporting college athletic teams function as a religion. This is one of the main reasons that many individuals who have no other connection to a college can spend so much time and money focused on a university’s football or basketball team. Inter-colligate athletics may not appear to be a religious notion but according to the definition of religion by Emile Durkheim in his famous, Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, anything that the community separates from everyday life and makes sacred can become a religion. According to Durkheim religion is an organization of beliefs and practices related to sacred things that become “one single moral community called a Church.”26 Randall Collins argues to understand religion within society they must first understand Durkheim’s “non-obvious theory of religion, in which the key to religion is not its belief but the social rituals that its members perform.”27 Collins goes on to say that what all religions have in common is the beliefs and rituals that the participants share.28 Other religious scholars have argued that religion is really the separation of the sacred from the profane. The sacred is “the power or source or motivating element of religious behavior and the ultimate object of religious thought.”29 In other places in American life, the sacred can be things outside of what is considered traditional religious institutions. Using this explanation college athletics can be seen as one of the most popular religions in America. To some, it may appear blasphemous to compare a sporting event to church but for many in the United States, Saturdays in autumn are considered holy days of obligation. Michael Novak wrote, “Sports are at their heart a spiritual activity, a natural religion.”30 The game day experience on many college campuses resembles an Evangelical Christian service. The participants have an expected dress code of team colors. Game day often begins for most fans in the parking lots where a community of tailgaters gathers for picnics, drinks, and to play corn hole. The carnival atmosphere creates the opportunity for fans, students, alumni, and boosters, to have fellowship with one another. During the game there are group chants, songs, cheers, and moments where an entire stadium will stand without being prompted. The coach is like a minster, inspiring not only his players and staff but also the fans in the stands and those watching from home. The coach will also become a role model for the type of behavior the fans engage in. The most obvious comparison to the Christian church is asking for donations. Similar to the offering plate, athletic foundations spend a good portion of the game day asking for members of the congregation to give ten percent and, similarly to a typical American church, those who donate the most get the closest access to the coach/minister.31 While all these things happen for sporting events for both types of schools the religious-affiliated schools often have this type of fellowship within the worship offerings of the sponsoring religion. The need for athletics to create this type of community environment is not as important for religious-affiliate schools as in the secular universities. Residential LifeTo understand the identity of the schools, it is important to know about the way the students live and learn at these schools. This section focuses on the residential situations at each school. All of the schools in the school selection are residential colleges, meaning that a significant portion of the students reside on or near campus. This affects the community and identity of a university in many ways, the most important being that those schools whose students live on campus will often have more say in the day to day lives of the students. Religious-Affiliated Residential LifeThe four religious schools have many similarities and differences amongst each other and their secular counterparts. One area, residential life, can greatly influence how students spend their time on campus. The culture of residential life at the religious-affiliated schools is outlined in Table 2. Table : Religious Affiliated Schools Residential Life
Source: ND.edu, BYU.edu, Wheaton.edu, Luther.edu Among the selected religious universities there are clearly two secularized schools. One is Notre Dame, the most recognized Catholic university in America. Founded in 1842, Notre Dame is considered by many the premier Catholic university in America due to its strong academic reputation and also strong athletic programs. Compared to other Catholic schools across the country, Notre Dame tries to maintain its Catholic identity in many ways. One way it the university’s on campus rector system. Eighty percent of undergraduate students live in twenty-seven single-sex dorms that “strive to create communities of faith and learning that serve as catalysts for the integration of students’ intellectual, spiritual, and social development.”32 Notre Dame does not require students to attend religious services, but provides plenty of opportunities to worship. Each dorm has its own chapel where daily mass is offered in the male dorms and twice a week in the female dorms. This is due to the fact that in the Catholic faith a man must perform mass.33 Outside of the rector system the college itself is designed to be a Catholic village, including the famous “Touchdown Jesus” mural. The second secularized school is Luther College. Founded in 1861 Luther is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The school is small, with 2,500 enrolled students located in Decorah, Iowa a small town with a population of 8,100. Luther is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) and is a Phi Beta Kappa institution. Forty-three percent of the students who attend Luther identify themselves as Lutheran. Luther has what many consider a more traditional college conduct system. Underage alcohol use is strictly prohibited and tobacco is regulated using the Iowa Smoke free Air Act. Students are required to live on campus unless they are married, commuting from their parent’s home or of a non-traditional age of twenty-three of older. Ninety percent of the students live on campus, and the residence halls are coed by floor or wing. Students may be on opposite sex floors between 8:00am and 2:00am on weekdays. First year students must continue these visitation hours on the weekend where older students have open visitation on Friday and Saturday nights. There is no rule against premarital sex. Brigham Young University began as and remains a school committed to providing access to secular educational goals with a strong religious foundation.34 The school is sponsored by the LDS church and is part of the church’s education system. Founded in 1875, BYU has several branches but for this paper the only athletic program examined will be the main campus in Provo, UT. In fall 2010 ninety-eight percent of the student population was members of the LDS Church.35 The reason for the high percentage of LDS members could be the discount received from membership in the church. Another reason is that BYU wants its campus to be a Mormon community. Students, faculty, and staff are expected to maintain a strict honor code that emulates LDS ideals and values. Included are abstaining from premarital sex, maintaining the school’s dress and grooming standards and not consuming caffeinated beverages. Homosexual behavior is clearly addressed and banned. To help maintain the honor code residential life standards have single sex residence halls and curfews. Members of the BYU community are expected to report Honor Code violations. Wheaton College is a four-year private, interdenominational Christian college in Illinois. The location of campus is in a suburb of Chicago. Wheaton is a small college with enrollment of about 2,400 undergraduate students. Approximately 88% of undergraduate students live on campus, and students may only live off campus with permission from the college.36 Unlike Notre Dame, BYU, and Luther, Wheaton is not officially affiliated with a single church and advertises itself as “a complex Christian community of living, learning, and serving than cannot be reduced to a simple model.”37 While it may not be a single church, Wheaton does expect its community to “clearly and embrace it sincerely” the Community Covenant.38 Parts of the Covenant include full integration of devotion to Jesus Christ including participating in worship. Premarital sex is forbidden, and while alcohol is not outright forbidden for the entire community enrolled students are banned from consuming alcohol and tobacco.39 Residential life at Wheaton also supports it Christian ideals. According to Wheaton, there are “four building blocks” for a student to develop his ideal Christian character while in school. The building blocks are: attending class, going to chapel, living on-campus, and participating in extracurricular activities.40 On its website, Wheaton proclaims that living on its campus is simply an extension of its classroom and as such requires all full-time, unmarried, undergraduate students to live on campus unless the student lives nearby with his parents. Private Secular Residential LifeThe second subject group, secular private, consists of schools that have smaller undergraduate enrollments than their Public counterparts. Looking at Table 3, this group is diverse in the way it forces students to reside on campus. Table : Private Secular University Residential Life
Established in 1925, the University of Miami (Miami) is a private research university in South Florida with over 15,000 students enrolled. Miami is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is a Phi Beta Kappa school. Eighty-four percent of new freshmen reside on campus and forty percent of the entire undergraduate population lives on campus in what Miami calls residential colleges. The residential colleges are co-educational with alternating single sex floors or suites.41 Overnight guests are allowed if they are the same gender. There are no rules for conduct that are tied to a religious foundation; rather they are standard for any American university including their alcohol policy. Alcohol is allowed at Miami in very specific circumstances.42 The University of Southern California (USC) was founded in 1880 and currently has more than 33,000 students.43 Residents are not required to live on campus but according to the USC website “practically all freshmen live on campus.”44 The dorms are co-ed using single sex wings. One interesting item is that there are special “Rainbow Floor” sections for students who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered.45 USC does not have any restrictions on alcohol consumption outside of state and federal laws. Alcohol may be served on campus with permission. Williams College is a small private college founded in 1793 located in Massachusetts.46 The majority of the students live on campus in co-ed dorms with upperclassmen having the option of living off campus. There is no set policy of conduct and behavior at Williams but there is a student handbook with rules for residing and learning at the school.47 Instead authority figures are used as mentors rather than rule enforcers.48 Amherst College was founded in 1821 by the Congregational leadership. It is now an independent university in Massachusetts with a student body of 1,795. Ninety-seven percent of the student body lives on campus. There are no social rules regarding behavior and alcohol is only allowed with permission of the college.
Ohio State is a public university located in Columbus, Ohio and was founded in 1873. Like most schools first year students are required to live on campus unless they are married or living with their parents nearby. Dorms are mainly co-ed with single sex room and bathroom assignments. Ohio State does allow students to live in what is called Learning Communities and Living Environments where students are arranged based on certain community criteria. These situations have student who are majoring in the same program or working on a cause living and studying together. There are also substance-free units for students who agree to completely abstain from using drugs, alcohol, and tobacco both on and off campus.49 Open in 1883, the University of Texas at Austin (U-Texas) has the largest student population of the study group, with over 50,000 students enrolled. U-Texas is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The majority of the residence halls are co-ed but two are all female and one is all male.50 In certain dorms there is a pilot program for 24-hour guest visits, with no restrictions on gender with roommate approval. U-Texas has a standard of conduct policy for its students’ alcohol and drug use that states that bringing or using “intoxicants or drugs onto the premises of the institution” is misconduct and subjected to discipline.51 Founded in 1855, The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a small public college with about 6,200 students. Fifty percent of the student population lives on campus in co-ed dorms that are divided by school year. There are fourteen residence halls for the campus. TCNJ is a Phi Beta Kappa school and accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. In 2011 TCNJ was ranked the number one public school in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Regional Universities’ category.52 Starting out as a junior college in 1960, Christopher Newport University (CNU) became a full university in 1992. Accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, CNU has 4,800 students. Every class, expect seniors, are required to live on campus. CNU offers special-interest housing where upperclassmen can choose to apply to live together if they prove they have a need for their housing to enhance their stated goals and interests. Overnight guests are limited to two nights in a consecutive seven-day period. What the residential life area of both the secular public schools and private schools have in common is a generalized idea of proper behavior. Over all, the schools expect its students to respect each other’s boundaries and rights. All schools have in common clear alcohol limits and clear expectations of what are the penalties for breaking the rules. While some of the religious-affiliated schools do not allow their faculty or students to consume alcohol, all the schools limit access to alcohol in some way. This leads to importance of one of the key components of athletics, particularly football, in fostering identity for secular college, tail gating. Across the country it is common to see a sea of cars and RVs with grills and coolers full of ice and alcohol. As game day is one of the few opportunities for alumni to return and be part of the larger university community, the ability to share a meal, and consume drinks is important in creating devotion to the program. By limiting alcohol more strictly than other schools, BYU and Wheaton are limiting what many fans would consider part of the game day experience. Directory: 2012 2012 -> The Case Against the nypd’s Quota-Driven ‘Broken Windows’ Policing What Is It? 2012 -> Annual InStructional unit plan 2012 -> University of Hawai‘i Maui College dental assisting program review october 21, 2013 2012 -> Committee on the rights of the child the rights of all children in the context of international migration 2012 -> Background on the Haitian Earthquake 2012 -> The Collected Wisdom of Science Olympiad Coaches 2012 -> Federal Communications Commission fcc 12-81 Before the Federal Communications Commission 2012 -> Aa and na members Dying from Tobacco 2012 -> [Baby Crying] 01: 04 [Ching Download 242.89 Kb. Share with your friends:
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