Speaking the Truth

Words of Wisdom from Mr. Schmalhofer

Another day, another anti-athlete hate piece published in an Ivy student newspaper. Honestly, the ignorance is so prevalent in these pieces it's really worth asking how the editors of these papers can responsibly publish them. I'm all for free speech, but facts are facts. A paper shouldn't be publishing editorials that say 2+2 = 5, and they shouldn't be publishing these baseless rants either.

The latest worthless essay came from the Yale Daily News, but the good news is the paper had enough smarts to print a rebuttal by two graduating Eli football players, including my friend Stephen Schmalhofer.

My fear is that we're going to see more of this kind of athlete bashing in Ivy schools. The funny thing is "tolerance" and edicts against "hate speech" at Ivy schools are as hollow as an empty mortarboard. As long as you attack the "right people" it's allowed. If a YDN writer wrote anything resembling this kind of thing about Muslims, blacks, gays, women, sexology majors, etc. they'd be run out of town on a rail. And rightly so, I might add. Without any empirical proof, one Yale student has been given a platform to question the very existence of a large amount of his fellow students on campus. This is the highest form of insult.

My bigger fear is that too many of the administrators at Ivy schools basically agree with the writer of the original editorial.

I think it's painfully obvious that Ivy faculties are so far out on the fringe that they need to basically exclude the real world from having any contact with them in order to function at all. This is exactly the reason behind the efforts to oust the alumni members of the board of trustees at Dartmouth. People functioning in the real world would surely clamp down on outrageous things like inviting the genocide-pumping "president" of Iran to speak at Columbia, thus they must be banished.

Now don't get me wrong, I think there's something very good about a very large number of Ivy professors being out of the so-called "mainstream." The best kind intellectual development depends on challenging norms and conventions. BUT, the Ivy schools need to be more up-front and honest about this approach. They cannot continue to make one pitch to prospective students and parents in the brochure, and another once classes begin. And they also cannot be allowed to bash middle class America and "corporate morals" and then proceed to have no problem pocketing in excess of $40,000 annually from each family just for the privilege of being insulted.

Much has been written on this blog about the incredible benefits athletics provide each and every Ivy school. Unfortunately, the Ivy presidents seem intent on diluting that positive impact year after year.

Hopefully, the next generation of alumni and big donors will be vigilant enough to stop them.