aucanucktiger 1,850 Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 (From today's SI). Since when did the Univ. of FL become the bellwether of morality anyway? Florida president: grayshirting is morally reprehensible practice Story Highlights When an institution offers a scholarship, it should honor that agreement Grayshirting -- extending more scholarships than available -- is dangerous game Electing not to renew scholarships is technically legal, but morally wrong Florida president J. Bernard Machen. UF News Bureau For most young people, the decision on where to attend college is one of life's most important events. It involves analysis and contemplation by the student and a contract of acceptance (and scholarship in the case of student-athletes) by the institution. Once this contract is agreed to there is a great joy and it represents the beginning of a new journey for the student. It is a life-changing event. Imagine the feeling if the student finds out, literally a few months before enrolling, that the institution is backing out of the contract. It is too late in the summer to go back to one's second choice. The student is told he will have to wait until next year. Sorry, but no acceptance, no scholarship. That's it. In Division I college football this practice is known as "grayshirting" and, unfortunately, there are universities that sanction this activity. The universities, with full knowledge of what they are doing, extend more athletic scholarships than they have. These schools play roulette with the lives of talented young people. If they run out of scholarships, too bad. The letter-of-intent signed by the university the previous February is voided. Technically, it's legal to do this. Morally, it is reprehensible. Associated with "grayshirting" -- and equally disgusting -- is the nefarious practice of prematurely ending student-athletes' scholarships. Some are just not renewed even though the student-athlete is doing what is asked of him. Some students are mysteriously given a "medical exemption" which ends their athletic careers -- and makes another scholarship available for the football coach to hand out. There are, to be sure, some legitimate circumstances that result in scholarship non-renewal but regardless of the situation it is the student athlete who is impacted and the university that benefits. No university would allow this for the general student body. Imagine the uproar it would cause! What needs to happen in intercollegiate athletics is that universities must accept the moral responsibility to stop and prevent "grayshirting" and its associated actions. The football programs must be accountable and should honor institutional commitments to students. It is, after all, a moral contract. J. Bernard Machen is the president of the University of Florida. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarEagle84 0 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 (From today's SI). Since when did the Univ. of FL become the bellwether of morality anyway? Florida president: grayshirting is morally reprehensible practice Story Highlights When an institution offers a scholarship, it should honor that agreement Grayshirting -- extending more scholarships than available -- is dangerous game Electing not to renew scholarships is technically legal, but morally wrong Florida president J. Bernard Machen. UF News Bureau For most young people, the decision on where to attend college is one of life's most important events. It involves analysis and contemplation by the student and a contract of acceptance (and scholarship in the case of student-athletes) by the institution. Once this contract is agreed to there is a great joy and it represents the beginning of a new journey for the student. It is a life-changing event. Imagine the feeling if the student finds out, literally a few months before enrolling, that the institution is backing out of the contract. It is too late in the summer to go back to one's second choice. The student is told he will have to wait until next year. Sorry, but no acceptance, no scholarship. That's it. In Division I college football this practice is known as "grayshirting" and, unfortunately, there are universities that sanction this activity. The universities, with full knowledge of what they are doing, extend more athletic scholarships than they have. These schools play roulette with the lives of talented young people. If they run out of scholarships, too bad. The letter-of-intent signed by the university the previous February is voided. Technically, it's legal to do this. Morally, it is reprehensible. Associated with "grayshirting" -- and equally disgusting -- is the nefarious practice of prematurely ending student-athletes' scholarships. Some are just not renewed even though the student-athlete is doing what is asked of him. Some students are mysteriously given a "medical exemption" which ends their athletic careers -- and makes another scholarship available for the football coach to hand out. There are, to be sure, some legitimate circumstances that result in scholarship non-renewal but regardless of the situation it is the student athlete who is impacted and the university that benefits. No university would allow this for the general student body. Imagine the uproar it would cause! What needs to happen in intercollegiate athletics is that universities must accept the moral responsibility to stop and prevent "grayshirting" and its associated actions. The football programs must be accountable and should honor institutional commitments to students. It is, after all, a moral contract. J. Bernard Machen is the president of the University of Florida. Hogwash. Students on academic scholarship are required to maintain a minimum GPA. If they don't, their scholarships are withdrawn. I think athletes should be made clearly aware that they need to meet minimum performance standards in order for their scholarships to be renewed. I gather from some other articles I've read that it is not always made clear that athletic scholarships are year-by-year and not necessarily for 4+ years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCWarEagle 0 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Grayshirting a healthy athlete seems like a university/coach going back on his word and I agree that there should be rules against it. I have no idea how often Florida does this, but I would be curious, especially since their president comes across as very "holier than thou" in this article. I'd also be curious how often Auburn has done it. I don't see a problem with scholarships being made for one year at a time, as long as there are clear requirements and those are explained to the athlete before he commits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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