Needed: Equal Time for University Academics

There ought to be a law, or an accreditation requirement, or an FCC regulation, or something that would require universities to spend as much time and money promoting their specific academic achievements (i.e., not their vague reputations) as they spend promoting their sports teams.  For every billboard on the highway, every highway sign, every radio commercial that talks about the sports team, and for every minute of interviews granted to a college athlete or coach, there should be an equivalent billboard, sign, commercial, or minute of interviewing granted to — or, if necessary, purchased by — the university on behalf of its scholars, undergraduate and graduate programs, faculty members, and libraries.

Certainly sports have a place at universities.  As a parks & recreation graduate student, I feel recreation has an important place.  But so do academics, for heaven’s sake.  Sports provides a huge amount of money and attention for colleges.  To some extent, that continues to send the wrong message to young people, on the question of what they should aspire to achieve.