Higher Education and Athletics: Probing an American Ethos

Abstract

In 1874 student teams from McGill and Harvard met in a series of games which were credited with shaping the modern style of intercollegiate football. In the century since that series, American colleges and universities have accommodated large competitive sports programs; these, in turn, have been celebrated and justified in terms of distinctive American beliefs in connections between sports, education, and social mobility. This essay attempts to break the conspiracy of silence which characterizes the response of American faculty and educators toward intercollegiate athletic policy. And, this is an invitation for scholars and educators in Canada to critically study the not-so-obvious connections between schools and sports.