Before March Madness

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt Edward Kemper
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
College Athletics ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
College Sports ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
College Basketball ◽  
Small Liberal Arts Colleges

Before March Madness examines the power dynamics of mid-century college sports when their meaning in higher education was still uncertain, when their future in American culture was still undetermined, and when the ascendance, indeed the very survival, of the NCAA was not yet assured. The book identifies the institutional struggles of college athletics from the late 1930s to the late 1950s and the multiple stakeholders and varied interests contained therein, showing a complex, and often conflicting, view of both college sports and higher education. The NCAA’s insistence on defining college athletics solely within the big-time commercialized model opened itself to severe criticism from within the organization in the form of small liberal arts colleges, medium-size regional and state universities, and historically black colleges, as well as outside it with the creation of the NAIA. The organization, however, successfully used college basketball to both placate internal critics and stave off its external competitor. In doing so, the NCAA managed to create in the public’s mind a singular vision of college sports, often represented by college football, representing only the big-time commercialized model by creating a peace that was purchased through college basketball. The success of NCAA elites to co-opt, divide, and placate its insurgent critics mirrored the larger response of mid-twentieth-century political and economic elites in the face of unprecedented challenges resulting from the civil rights movement, second-wave feminism, and opposition to the war in Vietnam.

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 225-234
Author(s):  
Kurt Edward Kemper
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
College Athletics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
World War ◽  
Multiple Pressures ◽  
Economic Elites

Throughout much of the NCAA’s first half century, the organization maintained an uneasy collection of commercialized schools that pursued highly competitive athletics for publicity and profit; liberal arts colleges that saw college athletics as a component of their educational and leadership missions; and smaller and medium-size state schools that wanted to play athletics for competitive glory but lacked the size, resources, and finances of the big-time powers. Unable to balance those three interests, the NCAA largely ignored the concerns of the latter two while devoting itself to the service of commercialized athletics. This fraught arrangement finally came asunder in the years after World War II when multiple pressures from scandals, racial criticisms, and growing pressure for access to the NCAA Basketball Tournament finally forced concessions. The concessions made in the mid- to late-1950s, however, did not reshape the balance of power in the NCAA, as the organization remained wholly committed to serving the interests of big-time commercialized athletics. In this regard the challenges faced by the NCAA mirrored the larger social and cultural upheaval in the United States following World War II. The civil rights movement, second-wave feminism, and opposition to the war in Vietnam all challenged the authority of existing political and economic elites yet did not mark any fundamental shift in power in American life. The question, then, is not really how did the NCAA manage to survive but, rather, how did its critics ever hope to succeed?

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Kurt Edward Kemper
Keyword(s):  
Historically Black ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
College Athletics ◽  
College Football ◽  
Black Colleges ◽  
Early College ◽  
College Sports ◽  
Historically Black Colleges ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
College Basketball

The introduction begins with a thumbnail sketch of some of the schools that played in the 1958 NCAA College Division Basketball Championship and the varying identities with the NCAA that each represented. The 1958 tournament included liberal arts colleges, regional and small state schools, and historically black colleges, each of which pursued athletics differently from, and often in opposition to, the big-time commercialized model that gained the majority of media and public attention. These varying groups and their agendas ultimately created conflict within the NCAA and all of college athletics over the function of college sports within American higher education and American culture. The chapter examines the historiography of early college sports and reform efforts, showing the primacy that college football plays in existing scholarly interpretations while also noting the fairly limited examinations and scholarly depth of early college basketball. Both strains of scholarship tend to imply a certain inevitability of the varied roles of college football and college basketball, an inevitability rejected by Before March Madness.

An Intimate Yet Anglo-Centric Account of a Renaissance Human Rights Man

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-134
Author(s):  
Dilek Kurban
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Legal Scholar ◽  
Minority Community ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Social

In his well-researched biography, Mike Chinoy chronicles Kevin Boyle's life and career as a scholar, activist and lawyer, bringing to light his under-appreciated role in the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland and the efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, as well as his contributions to human rights movements in the United Kingdom, Europe and the world. Are You With Me? is an important contribution to the literature on the actors who have shaped the norms, institutions and operations of human rights. In its efforts to shed light on one man, the book offers a fresh alternative to state-centric accounts of the origins of human rights. The book offers a portrait of a social movement actor turned legal scholar who used the law to contest the social inequalities against the minority community to which he belonged and to push for a solution to the underlying political conflict, as well as revelations of the complex power dynamics between human rights lawyers and the social movements they represent. In these respects Are You With Me? also provides valuable insights for socio-legal scholars, especially those focusing on legal mobilisation. At the same time the book could have provided a fuller and more complex biographical account had Chinoy been geographically and linguistically comprehensive in selecting his interviewees. The exclusion of Kurdish lawyers and human rights advocates is noticeable, particularly in light of the inclusion of Boyle's local partners in other contexts, such as South Africa.

Full Court Press

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason A. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
The State ◽  
Caste System ◽  
Mississippi State University ◽  
State University ◽  
Civil Rights Era ◽  
College Basketball ◽  
The Press ◽  
Closed Society

During the civil rights era, Mississippi was cloaked in the hateful embrace of the Closed Society, historian James Silver’s description of the white caste system that enforced segregation and promoted the subservient treatment of blacks. Surprisingly, challenges from Mississippi’s college basketball courts brought into question the validity of the Closed Society and its unwritten law, a gentleman’s agreement that prevented college teams in the Magnolia State from playing against integrated foes. Mississippi State University was at the forefront of the battle for equality in the state with the school’s successful college basketball program. From 1959 through 1963, the Maroons won four Southeastern Conference basketball championships and created a championship dynasty in the South’s preeminent college athletic conference. However, in all four title-winning seasons, the press feverishly debated the merits of an NCAA appearance for the Maroons, culminating in Mississippi State University’s participation in the integrated 1963 National Collegiate Athletic Association’s National Championship basketball tournament. Full Court Press examines news articles, editorials, and columns published in Mississippi’s newspapers during the eight-year existence of the gentleman’s agreement, the challenges posed by Mississippi State University, and the subsequent integration of college basketball within the state. While the majority of reporters opposed any effort to integrate athletics, a segment of sports journalists, led by the charismatic Jimmie McDowell of the Jackson State Times, emerged as bold and progressive advocates for equality. Full Court Press highlights an ideological metamorphosis within the press during the Civil Rights Movement, slowly transforming from an organ that minimized the rights of blacks to an industry that weighted the plight of blacks on equal footing with their white brethren.

scholarly journals Civil Conspiracy—Holding College Officials Accountable

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 92
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Title Ix ◽  
National Collegiate Athletic Association ◽  
College Athletics ◽  
College Sports ◽  
Athletic Programs ◽  
State University ◽  
Sexual Assaults ◽  
University Policy ◽  
Cover Up

College sports have always been somewhat marred by controversy—whether it be point shaving, paying off players, or academic fraud—as the money to be made from college sports and the overwhelming desire to win has always seemed to generate impropriety among schools, players, and coaches. However, in recent years, scandals within college athletics programs have escalated beyond mere efforts to “win at all costs,” with the spotlight now on instances of sexual violence committed by players against other students and the cover-ups of these assaults. Following the massive cover-up and mishandling of sexual assaults by Baylor University’s athletic department and officials, and the arrest and conviction of a sexually abusive physician at Michigan State University (MSU), it has become apparent that these instances of intra-university collusion are not “isolated incidents.” Instead, these events are evidence of a pattern of behavior employed by institutions of higher education—institutions that prioritize their image over the safety of their students. Further, these cover-ups undoubtedly involve more actors than are held accountable, with scandals leading to the removal of university “faces,” while lower-level employees, staff, and coaches are retained despite their obvious involvement. This Comment will address the goings-on within college athletic programs and will argue that such catastrophic failures on the part of schools like Baylor and MSU are likely evidence of a conspiracy within those institutions to defraud their students or interfere with their civil rights, thereby jeopardizing the safety of every student enrolled. It will be a fact-intensive analysis of the tragic events at Baylor and MSU and of the lawsuits filed against both schools by victims. This analysis will show that a much greater evil is at play at these, and likely many other institutions. Not only did these universities fail to adhere to policy, protect their students, or act with any common sense or decency—they actively attempted to inhibit investigations and intentionally tried to cover up sexual harassment, sexual assault, and even gang rapes in order to protect their athletic programs, their employees’ jobs, and their schools’ reputations. Next, this Comment will discuss the shortcomings of Title IX, focusing on how the statute does little to provide an adequate remedy for the victims at Baylor and MSU. Additionally, the impotency of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sanctions will be analyzed, illustrating how those sanctions do little to encourage athletic officials to adhere to proper Title IX or university policy. Finally, this Comment argues that the pursuit of civil conspiracy claims against athletic programs and universities would: (1) deter schools from protecting alleged rapists in order to promote their athletic programs, and (2) root out and punish individuals responsible for willfully protecting students unequally or discouraging reporting of sexual assaults. Additionally, this Comment advocates for neutral government or academic agencies to handle these cases, thereby removing these kinds of investigations entirely from the hands of ill-equipped athletic programs and coaches.

Constraints and Opportunities

1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Yarmolinsky
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Liberal Education ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Resource Constraints ◽  
Graduate Degrees ◽  
Building Maintenance ◽  
The Face ◽  
External Causes ◽  
Small Liberal Arts Colleges

Liberal education has always proved a challenge to deliver systematically, if only because by its very nature it is difficult to specify. In the United States, institutions that seek to offer liberal education on the threshold of a new century operate under new or, at least, significantly more chafing constraints. This article examines some of these constraints and suggests ways in which they can be relieved or accommodated. The principle constraints discussed here are those of shrinking material resources, expanding and accelerating expectations, and increasing heterogeneity across the student body. In the face of these constraints, academic institutions from small liberal arts colleges to large research universities are no better able than other institutions to adapt themselves to changing circumstances—and perhaps a little bit less so. Resource constraints stem from internal and external causes. The internal causes, I will argue, are the result of an economic anomaly. It is not possible for the direct delivery of liberal education to become significantly more efficient in the same way that other economic processes do, at least in part because liberal education is not something that can be "delivered": thus, there is a productivity lag behind other sectors in the economy. The institution cannot fully compensate for this lag by making improvements in the efficiency of other activities (e.g., computing or building maintenance). The external causes, in the public sector, arise from the insistent demands for other uses of public funds, combined with continued popular resistance to tax levels comparable to those of other industrial democracies. In the private sector, the external cause is the declining capacity (or willingness) of families and individual payers to meet even a partial share of the cost of liberal education. Other constraints result from expanding and accelerating expectations as students and their families demand that they be prepared for specific jobs or get a leg up on specific postgraduate professional training. In a sense this is the other side of the coin of employers' broader demand for higher education. As the proportion of jobs requiring undergraduate and graduate degrees has increased, the vocational aspect of higher education has increased accordingly.

scholarly journals “Where We Are, Resistance Lives”: Black Women, Social Media, and Everyday Resistance in Higher Education

JCSCORE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Terah J. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Black Feminist Thought ◽  
Black Feminist ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
Second Wave Feminism ◽  
Everyday Resistance ◽  
Second Wave

The discourse about activism (and problematic conflations with resistance) typically offer comparisons to the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement, examine first and second wave feminism, and situate apathy and fatigue as opposite from resistance. Using a qualitative research design (Merriam, 2009; 2002), Black feminist thought (Collins, 1990), and endarkened feminist epistemology (Dillard, 2006); this study examined the experience of 6 collegiate Black women and their resistance through engagement of the hashtag, #BlackGirlMagic. Specifically, the inquiry explored how and why participants used the hashtag and investigated connections that give nuance to activism and resistance through community building, digital counterspace creation, and connections to higher education broadly. Findings include how participants conceptualize and define resistanceand how #BlackGirlMagic serves as one way they can and do engage in resistance; and the author explores relevant implications for colleges and universities.

scholarly journals African Americans and the Struggle for Opportunity in Florida Public Higher Education, 1947-1977

2007 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 328-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry Johnson ◽  
Deirdre Cobb-Roberts ◽  
Barbara Shircliffe
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Higher Education ◽  
Access To Higher Education ◽  
World War ◽  
Civil Rights Organizations ◽  
Education Report

In the decades following World War II, access to higher education became an important vehicle for expanding opportunity in the United States. The African American-led Civil Rights Movement challenged discrimination in higher education at a time when state and federal government leaders saw strengthening public higher education as necessary for future economic growth and development. Nationally, the 1947 President's Commission on Higher Education report Higher Education for American Democracy advocated dismantling racial, geographic, and economic barriers to college by radically expanding public higher education, to be accomplished in large part through the development of community colleges. Although these goals were widely embraced across the country, in the South, white leaders rejected the idea that racial segregation stood in the way of progress. During the decades following World War II, white southern educational and political leaders resisted attempts by civil rights organizations to include desegregation as part of the expansion of public higher education.

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