The admissions window may be closing for some high school students as Harvard and other Ivy League schools begin considering a plan that would reduce the number of annual athletic recruits.
According to Harvard Director of Athletics Robert L. Scalise, the proposal comes after requests from Ivy League Presidents to their respective Athletic Directors to explore three possible options. The first is to reduce the number of admitted recruits in football alone from its current total of 35. The second would reduce the number of admitted recruits in all sports. The last vaguely seeks to decrease the overall intensity of the athletics experience.
The Athletic Directors have agreed to meet and discuss thier recommendations, which will then be presented to the various Ivy League presidents this spring.
“Right now there is no definite agreement on what should be done, but I do believe we’ll find common ground and a consensus among us,” Scalise said.
This proposed change comes months after a similar reduction in the number of recruit admissions for the New England Small College Athletic Conference, which includes Amherst, Williams and Bowdoin. The reduction comes within a year of the publication of The Game of Life, a book by James L. Shulman and former Princeton President William G. Bowen, who claim that athletes enjoy a substantial advantage in admissions beyond other targeted groups.
Harvard, which has the nation’s largest Division I program with 41 varsity teams and over 1,500 athletes, would rely more on walk-ons to fill its rosters, a move many athletes would like to avoid.
“I think that if the school is going to admit a kid who is a great saxophone player even though his grades or SAT score may be a bit lower, then the same principle should be applied to atheletes,” sophomore football player Jon Berrier said. “If Harvard felt that the creation of an award wining jazz ansemble was a priority, then it would sacrifice a few points on SATs or GPA to let them in. Without recruits you can’t field a competitive team.”
Such a sentiment is not just the position of the athletes.
“Both the Ivy Presidents and the athletic directors remain deeply committed to the founding the tenets of the League, that athletics play a positive role in the university environment and are an important part of the educational and collegiate experience of our students,” Scalise said.
In the Ivy League Admission Statement to prospective applicants, the eight Ivy League athletic directors note that their schools admit “all candidates including athletes on the basis of their achievements and potential as students and on their other personal accomplishments.”
Since this year’s recruiting period is coming to a close, no changes in the recruiting class size can be expected next year.
However, depending on the Ivy League’s course of action, Harvard may be looking at a different football team in the near future.
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