Brad Wolverton’s “The Education of Dasmine Cathey” peers into the life of student-athlete Dasmine Cathey and the academic struggles imposed on him through his environment. Wolverton’s evaluative argument, or an argument that scrutinizes every aspect of a chosen subject, utilizes a variety of rhetorical strategies and techniques such pathetic appeals through the inclusion of photographs and the use of imagery in the various scenes of Dasmine’s life in the article. To understand Wolverton’s argument, it is important to review his credentials—as a former senior writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education, where this article was first published, Wolverton has written dozens of articles critiquing the college athletic system since 2005. Due to
The commercialization of sports is a major issue that hinders the true spirit of athletics. The authors, Lebar and Paul, propose that by prioritizing the well-being and academic success of student athletes, colleges can create a more balanced and ethical approach to sports. They emphasize the importance of fostering a supportive environment that values the personal growth and development of student athletes over profit-driven motives. Lebar and Paul argue that by shifting the focus away from profit and towards the holistic well-being of student athletes, colleges can create a more sustainable and equitable athletic system. They believe that this approach will not only benefit the athletes themselves, but also enhance the overall integrity of collegiate sports.
His “sharply split opinions” signaled to the audience that his essay could go either way. By starting off with his primary research, he gained the reader’s attention enough that he or she would continue reading, despite their own opinions on the topic. His purpose for writing was driven by his numerous ordinary, but detrimental, experiences with college athletes as a student and as an educator. One sentence that reveals his purpose is, “It’s sad to see bright young athletes knowingly compromise their potential and settle for much less education than they deserve.”
Among the topics this chapter looks into is how participation in athletics can put student-athletes at a disadvantage both socially and academically relative to their peers. While in-season, student-athletes often are spending 30-40 hours a week on their respective sports; which is the equivalent of a full-time job. This exhaustive time-demand often makes it difficult for athletes to develop relationships with peers who aren’t fellow student-athletes. The lack of interaction between student-athletes and their non-athlete peers contributes to the cultivation of the academically inferior and “dumb jock” stereotypes that many non-athlete students hold of student-athletes. The time commitment that athletics require also has a negative effect on a student-athlete’s academics.
In John Brill’s article he even states, “The athletes cannot get the same value out of the education because of the already intense time commitment to the sport that has given them the opportunity to be in school.” (Brill 1). Which brings me to my next point, and that is that the quality of these students “education and degree” is not fully focused because they have such a big commitment to their sport. So if the education is their payment, isn’t it supposed to pay off in the long run? The truth is that a bachelor’s degree, which most athletes exit with, has a decreasing value in the workforce nowadays.
A lot of sports recruits come from the inner city, country or a humble environment. Going to college is a completely new and different experience. A large portion of players are trying to adjust in the classroom and feel inferior in more ways than we care to realize. Many of the students at major universities in the United States typically come from families that have incomes that are above the national average. These players are asked to come to the college’s where they are not socially equal but they are expected to feel good about the situation and themselves.
Another author supports, “Student-athletes are amateurs who choose to participate in intercollegiate athletics as part of their educational experience, thus maintaining a distinction between student-athletes who participate in the collegiate model and professional athletes who might be students as well” (Karaim). College sports is just like high school and youth sports, just at a higher level. No high school or youth athletes are getting paid, they are focusing on school work and sports is an extra activity that the students choose to do in their free time. It is the same thing in college, students are pursuing a degree and are by choice participating in their sports. The sports are not their
Many athletes understand that making it to the big leagues is obtainable though hard work and dedication, but like most things, are extremely difficult. The reality is these student-athletes will soon be employees of a new type of world. The working world. One they have just possibly never been a part of before. Thrown in the fire to be said.
This just proves how important a college education is to college athletes. College athletics promote athletes to pursue a career in professional sports, providing them with new experiences and life lessons to help them be
This notion is supported by Dr. Daniel Gould, who believes that “Children who participate in sports have increased educational aspirations, closer ties to school and increased occupational aspirations in youth” (1). People against the funding of high school sports think that parents and society are placing more emphasis than ever before and, “[P]ressures athletic personnel to deviate on winning from the athlete- centered educational and personal development mission” (Gould 1). However, athletes strive to do better in class. Michael Lorenc, a high school basketball coach believes that “those who seem to have an overwhelming schedule where they’re playing maybe multiple sports, and high academic schedules, they tend to do better than those who don’t do anything extracurricularly” (Gray). Balancing sports and school makes athletes put more effort into keeping up grades while playing the sport they love.
A Rhetorical Analysis of “The Education of Dasmine Cathey” Writer, Brad Wolverton, in his article “The Education of Dasmine Cathey” first appearing in The Chronicle of Higher Education, conveys the journey of a former University of Memphis football player who was poorly educated and how he struggled to be academically eligible. Wolverton’s purpose is to illustrate the widespread of educational shortcomings of NCAA athletes and the complicated ways athletes struggles gets brushed under the proverbial carpet. (Wolverton) In this article Wolverton utilizes a straightforward tone by using pathos to appeal to the readers with Mr. Cathey’s difficult situation also utilizing logos and ethos etc. to help make a presentable argument to which I will be analyzing.
Students win championships and represents their school. College athletes are the next rising professional athletes. Students give lots of creative, performance, and entertainment. Most colleges are made because, of athletes such as ‘’D1 Colleges.’’ If students in college get paid, beneficially they will be able to pay their class dues, food,
Did you know that depending on the sport, students who play sports in college most likely have less than a 2% chance of becoming professional athletes? At middle schools, high schools and colleges across the country, everyone is arguing over whether or not students with failing grades should be allowed to play sports. In my opinion, a good education is so very important for our country’s youth, especially the athletes. Not a lot of kids are good enough to play in the top college sports programs in the country. But even those who are, still have an astonishingly low chance at making the professional leagues.
These individuals bring immense value to their schools through their athletic achievements. In return, it is only fair that schools support them by providing a reasonable time frame that acknowledges their time commitment to those sports. For example, the state tournament last year for Girl’s Basketball brought lots of positives to the school district and athletics, and those athletes spent hours preparing for the game, traveling, and playing the games while they probably had assignments that they needed to complete. On a larger scale, schools like Stanford and UCLA have implemented policies that allow student-athletes to reschedule exams and extend assignment deadlines. These policies recognize the commitments of student-athletes and ensure they have a fair opportunity to succeed academically (Stanford Athletics, 2021).
Also, he shows that it is okay to admit student athletes because they learn to be discipline, respect, and leadership based on being on a team environment. He does have a fallacy of a False Analogy because he states that the author of the first essay knows nothing about football because he attendee home games and the author of the second essay would play and he was in this environment while in school. He thinks because student athletes put a lot of their time in to school and football that they should be getting a stipend with their scholarship because they put more hours into college work with all of their training and practicing and with their studies. He also, does not contradict
