Three cheers for athletics
Re: Justin Skiftenes’s letter (June/03): How sad that he doesn’t seem to understand the role athletics plays in the life of a college and its students—those who participate and those who don’t. Athletics is an important aspect of life for some students and as valid as the drive to an A in economics or election to a student government office. Being on an athletic team not only gives a student the pleasure of excelling at something physical and competing with like-minded students, but it also teaches how to work with others toward a common goal.

Maybe not many Chicago students attend athletic events but some do; sometimes there are even lots of people at an athletic event. How many students visit the Smart Museum regularly? How many are involved in theater productions? I suspect it’s not an overwhelming percentage. Does that mean the University should drop its support of those activities? I don’t think so.

A private university like Chicago has the luxury of building each class with as much variety and diversity as it wishes, and thank goodness for that. How boring if everyone were exactly the same, with the same GPA, test scores, and so on. I hope that the University would even increase its support of athletics—and show how it values the richness of an educational experience that includes the physical along with the mental.

Kathy Hacker
Claremont, California