As a much-anticipated college football season kicks off at The Swamp this weekend, it may be appropriate to look almost 1,000 miles north to Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa.
Penn State will kick off the season amid a culture shock — unprecedented yet deserved NCAA sanctions, which shattered the foundation of the university that was college football.
There are some stark similarities between the now- controversial Penn State and our beloved UF. Both have more than 40,000 students enrolled, both are highly ranked academically as public universities, and most important to this case, both campuses thrive on their respective athletic programs.
While I am not suggesting that any scandal or consequence of any nature has occurred, is occurring or will occur at UF, our university has a culture, regarding its size and athletics program, that compares with those of Penn State.
Without a doubt, intercollegiate athletics play a significant role on our campus. It is quite possible, some argue, that athletics supersede academics on a grand scale. While I don’t agree with that, there is no denying the ambiance and scope that nationally ranked college sports such as football, basketball and baseball play on our campus.
There is also no denying that the revenue that the football program brings to the university is a driving force behind its overbearing presence at UF and other large universities. In the year 2009 alone, the football program took in more than $68 million in gross revenue.
Clearly, there is a large incentive to market, recruit and expand the program back to the winning days of the Tebow era.
In combination with the intense tradition and passion for football on campus and within the SEC, success on the gridiron has been key in motivating interest in a university.
Just look at State College.
Less than a year ago, the university and Coach Paterno were praised as role models for others.
Now, the words “Penn State football” have garnered a toxic reputation for the whole university, despite its academic prowess.
These conditions existed at Penn State. Football was the overriding aspect that essentially defined campus. Legends such as the late Joe Paterno were essentially larger than life. Like Wall Street during the most recent financial crisis, the Penn State football program was “too big to fail.” As such, university officials seemed to, according to the report by Louis Freeh, cover up the horrendous and sickening actions of the disgraced Jerry Sandusky to best protect the college’s reputation.
It is my hope that UF, and other universities of similar status, does not put its entire reputation in the hands of its athletic program, or any program for that matter. While athletics should be part of UF’s culture, it should not completely encompass the university. UF should be revered as both an academic and athletic powerhouse.
No program, whether academic, social or athletic should be considered “too big to fail,” as Penn State’s football program was.
This too-big-to-fail culture fosters dishonesty, tragedy and disgust, which harms everyone related to the institution. While it appears that schools are taking action to prevent a similar athletic scandal, it is only a matter of time until success, money and championships foster the culture that was in Penn State leadership.
With Gator football taking off this weekend, it is my hope that when the program thrives again we look to State College to avoid the development of a culture and situation that has potential to harm students, faculty and alumni affiliated with our beloved university.
Matthew Schnur is an economics freshman at UF. His column appears on Wednesdays. You can contact him at opinions@alligator.org.
