Athletics column oversimplifies

As targets of Kristen Butler's Oct. 20 diatribe against the position and privilege of student-athletes at Duke, we feel compelled to challenge some of the propositions and myths advanced by her gross generalizations. First of all, SAT scores are not directly correlated to the skills, diversity, and excellence that students can bring to an academic environment. If students were merely admitted based on the SAT score, Duke would be composed of an incredibly homogenous student body population lacking much of the diversity and uniqueness that is supposedly a hallmark of Duke.

Furthermore, students are admitted for a variety of reasons, and we doubt that Butler would propose we abolish preferential treatment given to those who excel in other arenas, such as music or theatre, or who benefit from minority preference and the special access given to children of donors or whose relatives attended the University.

Butler indicates that admissions preferences given to athletes is an "affront to our academic mission" at Duke given the reduced ability for these students to excel in this rigorous academic environment. Although she cites potent statistics related to individual players on certain teams, she ignores the larger trend in the athletics department. There is a reason why job recruiters seek out athletes when they come to Duke's campus; the demands of handling 20-plus hours of practice time per week, extensive travel, and a full course-load require significant dedication and time management, traits the majority of Duke athletes possess.

The women's cross country team has been told that it defies the trends Butler attaches to student-athletes, as the average GPA for this group is higher than the average of the whole student body population-a characteristic this team has managed to handle while finishing at the top of the ACC and Division I national competition for consecutive years.

If Butler did not pick out specific cases conducive to proving her point and examined overall trends besides the transparent and inconsequential SAT scores of a handful of student-athletes, she would notice that this cross country team is not an exception, and the majority of student-athletes at Duke excel in a similar manner. Countless Duke athletes have not only worn the Duke blue with pride, but have also involved themselves in a variety of endeavors offered at Duke, from community service to extensive research, all activities that prepare student-athletes to thrive post-collegiately in an array of professions unrelated to sports.

We do not propose that Duke should be a community of athletics, and neither should it be a community solely committed to the academic side of life. As we hope the ongoing debate regarding the role of athletics on campus emphasizes, the institution of Duke University thrives as a result of the diverse skills and experiences all facets of campus life bring to the classroom, the playing field, and other social arenas.

We have enjoyed sharing classrooms with students from all over the world and from a variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds; our peers enable us to experience theatre, music, social movements, and other venues outside the athletic world. Similarly, we believe we have been able to positively influence the student body and administration at our university through our experiences in and dedication to sports. Duke is not weaker or less accomplished because of its willingness to admit students whose profiles may be outside the requirements of standard SAT scrutiny.

One stated goal of Duke admissions is prepare students to "view education not only as a gateway to personal development, but also as a pathway for improving society." The majority of student-athletes, contrary to what Ms. Butler claims, do not merely float through Duke focusing solely on their win-loss column, but rather, through interaction with other equally capable students, contribute substantially to the interdisciplinary exploration of education that Duke intends to foster.