Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: Editorial

We at the DePauw would like to applaud Student Congress for passing a white paper that makes it a possiblility for athletes to receive group six credit for their participation in a sport. Since students are now required to fulfill all six groups in order to graduate, it is less prudent to make athletes take part in physical education.

One of the underlying principles of a liberal arts education is exposing students to many different areas of study. This was part of the reason the change was made to require students to fulfill all six groups. However, college athletes are clearly already getting exposed to physical education through their participation in a sport. Requiring them to spend extra hours each week in physical education classes only limits them academically. Like all students, athletes have school work to do. Plus, many athletes are involved in other extra-curricular activities. Since they are already spending several hours per day in practice, requiring them to spend additional hours every week in physical education classes is an unnecessary damper on their schedules. Plus, every minute athletes spend in a physical education class is a minute they cannot spend taking another class that may be of more interest to them.

Considering that one of the main benefits of a liberal arts education is to allow students to explore as many different subject areas as possible, inhibiting athletes from taking other classes because they have to take physical education classes seems counter-productive to this mission. Thus, we at the DePauw urge the Committee of Academic Policy and Planning to take the necessary steps toward granting athletes group six credit for participation on athletic teams.

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