It’s not often that I agree with Frank Deford’s commentary about intercollegiate athletics, but in a recent piece he wrote for Sports Illustrated, Deford makes some excellent points.
In the article, Deford chronicles Birmingham Southern’s move from Division I to Division III, a jump that is almost unprecedented in intercollegiate athletics. Generally, moves happen between Divisions I and II and are almost always characterized by teams “jumping up” a division.
Many would classify Birmingham Southern’s reclassification as a move down. Instead of filling the arena for Division I basketball games with scholarship players, Birmingham Southern cut its athletics scholarships and reduced its emphasis on athletics. Like Deford, I see this as a bold and important statement. Instead of a move down, I believe Birmingham Southern chose to move up.
Uncomfortable with the financial commitment needed at the Division I level, Birmingham Southern’s administration felt that the school need to reemphasize its priorities. The program offered 116 full scholarships to student-athletes, while only one full academic scholarship was provided to students. Priorities were out of wack, so change was made.
As a former Division III student-athlete, I know that the school’s student-athletes will have just as rich an experience competing at that level as their predecessors did in Division I. In fact, the school was able to begin a football program thanks to all of the money it saved from removing athletics scholarships.
While I would never suggest that Division I programs should all drop their athletics scholarships and move to Division III, Birmingham Southern has made it clear that an institution should first focus on academics, and then on ancillary activities such as athletics. That’s a statement worth celebrating.