Questionable culture in college athletics

Richard Cohen’s Nov. 9 column was headlined, “When all seems lost, culture pulls a nation through.” True enough, but culture can lead to a nation’s downfall as well.

Consider the following. Although cheating, academic corruption, brain injuries, deaths and cover-ups in collegiate athletics can have a disastrous impact on America’s citizens, its educational institutions and its long-term vital interests, they certainly don’t generate the attention and headlines associated with sex-related scandals. However, the current sex-abuse scandal at Penn State University is not only a mix of both, but also illustrative of the extent to which school officials will go to protect their sports entertainment businesses and coaches.

Some 80 years ago philosopher Alfred North Whitehead wrote that when one compares the importance of education with “the frivolous inertia with which it is treated,” it is “difficult to restrain within oneself a savage rage,” an apt description of the feelings of those who see collegiate athletics prioritized over academics at schools sponsoring big-time football and men’s basketball programs — programs that are not only hugely popular with America’s sports-obsessed public but also are government subsidized by virtue of favorable tax policies.

It’s all about America’s culture. As Cohen writes: Culture “is the most important story of our times.”

Frank G. Splitt

Mount Prospect