Using Athletics to Advance the Educational Mission

Samford University’s move from the Ohio Valley Conference to the Southern Conference involves much more than merely repainting the floor of the basketball arena. The switch, effective Tuesday, has compelled the university to raise and spend large amounts of money to brings its athletics program into line with the new collection of schools it now competes with. From the Birmingham News:

To be successful in the traditionally powerful Southern Conference, Samford has ramped up its fundraising efforts, moved into a $32 million basketball arena and started preliminary construction for a $7 million football building.

Many decry the odious effects of Division I athletics on higher education, and there is good reason to. Yet there’s also an upside to big-time sports that cannot be denied: It brings visibility. And with that comes an increased ability to reach the publics a school wishes to reach — high school students, alumni, donors, foundations, legislators — with its message. What the university does with that opportunity is up to it, of course, but the chance basketball and football afford an institution to advance its mission can be huge. | 501(c)