Many years ago, the president of Oklahoma University said he wanted a university the football team could be proud of. I used that for the tongue-in-cheek title of this post, but I want to focus on the importance of athletics to Davidson and its mission because I believe that Davidson and major college athletics are inextricably intertwined.
John Gerdy once said that Davidson College does not need Division I athletics, but Division I athletics desperately needs Davidson College. While I certainly agree that the NCAA needs us, I have come to understand that major college athletic competition is a far more critical part of what makes Davidson unique than I once did. In part, that is because we all have a tendency to uncritically over-emphasize the importance of academics in assessing what makes our college great. More on that in a moment.
Someone estimated that George Mason’s Final Four run a couple of years ago had a publicity value that would have cost the school $677 million dollars to purchase as advertising. While the ridiculous precision of the number may raise doubt about its validity, we can all agree that the true value is substantial. Davidson has received public acclaim over the last two weeks which dwarfs comparisons to George Mason.
That $677 million estimate is an effort to quantify the advertising value of eyeballs and ears. What advertising can never do, however, is purchase the heart. A number of writers this week have noted that the Elite 8 run by the Davidson Wildcats is more than the story of the 2008 NCAA tournament. It is one of the most compelling stories in the history of the tournament. That would be true enough if it were merely the story of a small, 1,700 student school competing with the basketball behemoths. It really is a great Cinderella story. But that is not what riveted the attention of millions of hearts and minds around the nation.
What touched so many people was the quality of the character of the people who make up the Davidson community. Our coach, our players, our students and our trustees stunned people with their demonstration of generosity, humility, love, commitment and all the other virtues that make Davidson what it is (besides the free laundry).
I’ve spent far too much time reading columns written by writers all over the country in the last week or two. I’ve tried to post a number of them on this board. Normally cynical writers who are inundated by spin on a daily basis have written about Davidson people in terms that I’ve rarely if ever seen in my 40-plus years of avid reading about sports. People who regularly cover the NFL, NBA, MLB and NCAA football and basketball noted the special quality of our people.
One wrote that everyone should be able to go to school at a place like Davidson. One wrote, not in jest, that the world would be better off if Davidson were to win. They lauded our team’s unselfishness, their teamwork, their spirit, their humility, their toughness and their discipline. They were amazed and impressed by our coach. They were genuinely touched by the character of our athletes.
One writer wrote a special column about Steph Curry. He noted that he really, really hates all the references to God that some athletes make these days. But he ended his piece by noting how impressed he was with the Steph’s genuine humility. He wrote that any religion would be proud to have Curry represent its faith.
Our basketball team gave the entire Davidson community an opportunity to witness to the nation about the values that are important. That really is priceless. The team’s success this year also provided students, alumni and everyone connected to Davidson an experience that will last a lifetime. One that couldn’t be replicated without athletics at this level.
As I was walking through the stands in Ford Field, I was stopped by two college students and asked if I was a Davidson alum. They wanted confirmation that Davidson really was succeeding in major college sports with a student body of only 1,700 and academic standards as high as ours are. They asked how we managed it (they said their school, Hillsdale, struggled to play Division II with only 1400 students). I told them it was hard. I didn’t say it to them, but I think one of the best reasons for us to continue to make the effort to do it is precisely because it is so hard. Because making that kind of effort is a big part of what makes Davidson what it is. As I walked away they asked that we win one for all the little schools out there.
Davidson is unique among the nation’s top liberal arts schools because we are the only one competing in Division I sports. If it was easy, everyone would do it. But Davidson has always been about excellence and it has always recognized that college is about much more than academics and test scores. We live by an honor code because we recognize that spiritual growth is even more important than the mental stimulation we get from our academic studies. And we compete at the top level of athletics because we understand that a well-rounded person seeks physical growth and the pursuit of excellence requires the best in competition. Coach McKillop has been quoted often about his quest for our team to play the perfect game. His standards (and his life) fit Davidson so well.
It would be foolish to say that the Davidson experience was responsible for the character which our basketball student-athletes demonstrated this year. I don’t think it far-fetched, however, to say that Davidson’s standards attracted players with character. Or that Coach McKillop and the Davidson experience brought forth the excellence that was within them.
Davidson could abandon the honor code and still be a highly ranked academic institution. But it would no longer be Davidson. We could abandon Division I athletics, too. But we would no longer be Davidson. And we would no longer be unique.
I think it critically important that we always remember that Davidson is much, much more than rigorous academics. Davidson is about well-rounded personal development and the quest for excellence in all areas.
Can I get a witness?
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