UNM should back athletics wholeheartedly
Student-athletes reflect positively on New Mexico and are developing valuable skills in the process
You can’t be for academics and against athletics. UNM student-athletes are high performers academically and continually outperform the general student body. This is quite remarkable considering the additional requirements of balancing being a student as well as a Division One athlete.
In addition to being a student-athlete, these young men and women, who come from all backgrounds, are learning critical leadership skills by being challenged by their coaches to do more and are rewarded accordingly. These are attributes not often taught in the classroom. They also have to learn to work within a framework that includes on- and off-the-field expectations. Supporting each other is a strict mandate and above all else is the privilege of representing your university on a local, national and international stage.
Our state academic and athletic programs continue to positively represent New Mexico on a national and international stage. These programs are accomplishing these feats while our state is ranked in the bottom tenth nationally in many categories. The political pundits espouse more and more funds for child development and programs and yet can’t see the value in programs that are up and running and actually working. The best opportunities for New Mexico kids is to attend our state universities and participate in programs that demand excellence. You can’t be for academics and against athletics.
Our strategy collectively should be to invest in our student-athletes and create more opportunities, not less. We should be looking to add more sports, to attract and retain those who can represent New Mexico positively and continue to demonstrate to New Mexico kids that you can succeed here.
Where is the leadership from state legislators on this, and why are others dictating the narrative?
The fact is, enrollment at our state institutions is down and continuing to go down. At UNM, of the 400-plus student-athletes, not all of them are on full scholarships. One hundred or so are walk-ons who are responsible for their tuition and fees. The remaining student-athletes are either on partial or full scholarships, and the funding of those are the responsibilities of the athletic department and the individual students paying directly back to the university. You can’t be for academics and against athletics.
Regardless of the cost, we must invest in the future and pursue excellence with the belief that we will all benefit.
One of our regents said it best. We don’t know how to evaluate athletics. Maybe start with why? The reason universities exist is to develop young men and women by introducing them to ideas and concepts about making the world a better place. This requires imagination, innovation and critical thinking — but most of all, it requires action. Our state leadership is lacking in imagination, innovation and critical thinking and, most of all, action. The message you are sending to the youth in New Mexico is, “New Mexico isn’t good enough”.
Our state is not committed to excellence, and it doesn’t have the imagination required to invest in programs that are proven to work and represent our state positively. If you are an aspiring soccer player, golfer, swimmer, baseball player, softball player, tennis player, skier, track and field athlete or play volleyball, football or basketball and you are the best in New Mexico, go somewhere else. The message should be academics and athletics are inseparable at the University of New Mexico.
Again, we must cultivate and develop the imagination and critical thinking of our young men and women in this great state of ours. Our state should fully support and invest in our athletic programs to the fullest extent required to compete on a national and international level.
Scott Gates is a former UNM Lobo Club board member, graduate of the Robert O. Anderson School of Managment, member of the UNM men’s golf team, an aspiring C student and native New Mexican.