Athlete admissions revisited
Story of ex-football player who overcame odds to make run at degree inspires study of policies
A compelling story about a former University of Memphis football player’s academic struggles has prompted president Shirley Raines to launch a study to evaluate admissions policies for student athletes.
“The Education of Dasmine Cathey” in The Chronicle of Higher Education tells the story of a talented athlete who arrived at the university wholly unprepared for the demands of the classroom.
With the assistance of academic advisers and through his own per- sistent efforts, however, Cathey, 23, appears to be on the verge — despite poor grades and periods in which he failed to show up for classes — of earning a degree.
In an interview with The Commercial Appeal last week at his duplex near East High School, Cathey, who majored in interdisciplinary studies, was confident that he would complete one more course and finish his senior project, a 15-page research paper on why student athletes should be paid, in time to graduate in August.
He liked the widely circulated Chronicle story, which prompted a
vigorous debate over the Internet and in the media about the role of athletics on college campuses across the country. But he has stopped reading comments about the piece on the Internet because of their negativity.
The story detailed his struggle to improve his reading skills during nightly sessions of poring over learn-to - read books.
The piece delivered the message that one should “never give up” on one’s dreams, Cathey said.
Others saw different messages.
“The real point about Dasmine Cathey,” wrote New York Times columnist Joe Nocera, “is that he is no anomaly. Since 2003, when the NCAA stopped mandating minimum SAT or ACT scores, university athletic departments have been accepting more and more ‘studentathletes’ who can barely do high-school work, much less handle college. Universities have created their own academic underclass, whose job is to play football and basketball — and whose academic goal isn’t to actually learn anything but merely to stay eligible. Hence ‘interdisciplinary studies.’ ”
Cathey, a defensive end and linebacker from Ridgeway High, was admitted to the U of M in 2007.
Raines said the university in 2010 began evaluating student athletes’ reading, math, logic and other skills with a test that pinpoints their academic needs so that the school can work more effectively to meet them.
Faculty athletics representative Ed Stevens, a biology professor at the school, pointed to the B+ grade -point average among U of M athletes as an illustration of how well the program is working.
Raines defended the school’s record on admitting student athletes, who, like musicians and other students with particular talents, can, at the permission of the president, be admitted without meeting the required score on an index that combines such factors as grade -point average, college entrance exam scores and core course completion.
“The only time I give presidential exceptions — which is something I can do; I gave three presidential exceptions last year — is when the athletic academic advising office, which is headed by Dr. Joe Luckey, sends me information that they believe in their professional judgment that with help this student can succeed at the University of Memphis.”
Former Tiger basketball All-American and NBA standout Penny Hardaway received a presidential exemption — from then-U of M president Thomas Carpenter — and went on to make the Dean’s List and eventually earned his degree.
Nevertheless, Raines said, she wants to make sure the school is on track, with a new athletic director coming on board, to meet a stiffer new team eligibility standard mandated by the NCAA.
“I want to know what the plan is going to be for meeting the higher standard,” Raines said. “Each new AD has to work closely with the athletic advising office, and they have coaches that have to understand what the requirements are and that they are emphasizing academics as well as athletics.”
Raines said she has assembled a committee of faculty members to design a study that will evaluate the current admissions and evaluation process.
“I want to make sure the changes we made are effective for today’s student athlete and get us ready for the future.”
Dasmine Cathey’s future, if the 6-4, 220-pounder’s dreams are realized, will involve sacking quarterbacks and racking up wins with a Canadian or Arena Football League team.
This summer he’s working as a helper on a delivery truck, working out with his AAU track coach — a sprinter, he says he could have played receiver but didn’t want to risk knee injuries — and spending part of each evening working on his senior project .
He’s a noncustodial father, doing his best to help support two daughters.
He’s also trying to bulk up to 230 or 235 pounds and gain strength for an upcoming professional football tryout in New Orleans. Cathey dreams of earning enough money to make a contribution to the city and the school that have supported him through some difficult times, academically and financially.
“It’s going great,” he said, seated in the living room of his modest duplex, where a stick of incense was burning and a muscular pit bull sat tied to a door to a back room. Cathey’s girlfriend, Shawntell Jackson, listened to the conversation from a seat on the couch.
“You see I’ve got a little house now,” Cathey said. “I’m on my own. It’s going well. I’m starting little, but I have big plans for Memphis. Big plans.” — Michael Kelley:
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