For the first time Sunday night I became part of an elite group on campus. After work and just before I started preparing for this week’s homework, I scheduled in the priority registration group PH1A as a graduating senior.
University Registrar Robert Doolos told The Reveille the University uses a priority registration system that groups students according to the number of hours they have or will have completed at the end of each semester. However, Doolos said the University’s system allows several groups to schedule with seniors and grad students.
Few would argue against giving priority to a student in a wheelchair or a student who uses a captionist registration. This group of people must be able to choose which building or time to take their classes.
But what hardships do athletes and Ambassadors face that most other normal students do not? When the members of these groups argue their capacity as an arm of the University entitles them to some priority, I am offended. I too serve as an arm for the University. I was part of PH1A only once – the same should be true for them.
As editor of The Reveille I serve two purposes. I first am responsible for making sure an issue of the newspaper hits stands each day, something as extra-curricular as any sporting event or an Ambassador meeting. More importantly, I lead an organization that trains almost 80 students per year for future journalism careers. Athletes attract money and national attention to the University, Ambassadors recruit new students and I provide the University’s students with a place to implement and improve on what they learn in class while letting the rest of campus know what is going on.
Who is the University to place emphasis on the efforts of one group above the other? The last time I checked, LSU’s first priority was to offer higher education, not to reward those who bring in money, recruit, offer supplementary training or report the news. In keeping with its supposed first priority, it is only logical that arms of the University receive the same academic treatment as any other student paying for an education. Scholarships or special recognition are warranted, not a perk that will give someone who serves the University the ability to learn more or graduate more quickly.
Members of the Honor’s College are excluded from this argument based on the simple fact that the perk comes based on their commitment to academics. I’m still not convinced of their right to the privilage, though.
Academic Center for Student Athletes Director Roger Grooters told The Reveille “priority registration is a way for the University to meet student-athletes’ needs and a way to compensate for the ‘enormous’ pressures they face.” Grooters said practice schedules often prevent student athletes from taking classes during certain times of the day.
However, NCAA regulations prevent student athletes from receiving any privilege because of their athlete status that a normal student could not obtain. The regulations do not prohibit the athletes from receiving help in the form of something like tutoring or note-takers for the days they travel. Any student serving in a similar capacity can obtain those privileges. But until the day a new mother can argue her newborn puts too much pressure on her schedule to attend class, I find a student athlete’s claim to priority registration wrong.
And until someone can explain to me why practices must begin before 5:30 p.m. or 6 p.m., when most classes end, I have no sympathy. I too am required to schedule 12 hours per semester to work on campus (another of Grooters’ justifications for a student athlete’s priority needs). NCAA doesn’t require me to graduate on time; my parents and TOPS do. I too spend an average of 12 hours a day on campus – something that my teachers will say prohibits my learning abilities just as much as jet lag.
I do not intend to convince anyone that specialty groups, athletes especially, deserve less than elite status. Their work for the University must be recognized. However, it is wrong for LSU to reward one extra-curricular group without considering all others. And I consider it even more counterproductive to prioritize groups based on the efforts its members choose to provide.
I chose a position that requires me to sometimes stay in the basement of Hodges Hall until past midnight. Countless other students chose positions that come with other pressures. But when it comes to taking classes, random John Smith, a biology sophomore, paid for the same fair chance at a good education as we did.