04-26-2021, 11:48 PM
Maybe interesting that both the National Review and the SF Chronicle (about as ideologically opposite you can get) penned articles supporting the athletes (Anne Killion's was less an editorial, but it is pretty clear where her sympathies lie). In some ways, it's not a surprise; Stanford can easily play the bogeyman for both right- and left-leaning outfits. Plus, a David vs. Golliath story plays well to all audiences.
Either way, though, the strongest arguments for keeping the sports are emotional, not rational, which is why neither article is convincing from a rhetorical point of view. Which is why I am closer to the position of people like leftcoast and Farm, which is to say somewhat agnostic in this dispute. Sure, as a former (not very good) high school volleyball player, I don't want to see the sport disappear, and as my mentor is a former wrestler (at Phogge's alma mater), I have developed respect for the sport and believe that it's blue collar ethic benefits Stanford, and I have always like sailing, and I recognize that if men's volleyball and wrestling are kept that a women's sport would also be needed for Title IX purposes. But special pleading and personal interest aside, I don't have a strong feeling for keeping sports. I mean, 36 is not some magical inviolable number that represents the platonic ideal of how many varsity sports the University should have. We don't, for example, have a varsity bowling team (or ice hockey, rifle, or skiing) even though they are NCAA sports.
BC
Either way, though, the strongest arguments for keeping the sports are emotional, not rational, which is why neither article is convincing from a rhetorical point of view. Which is why I am closer to the position of people like leftcoast and Farm, which is to say somewhat agnostic in this dispute. Sure, as a former (not very good) high school volleyball player, I don't want to see the sport disappear, and as my mentor is a former wrestler (at Phogge's alma mater), I have developed respect for the sport and believe that it's blue collar ethic benefits Stanford, and I have always like sailing, and I recognize that if men's volleyball and wrestling are kept that a women's sport would also be needed for Title IX purposes. But special pleading and personal interest aside, I don't have a strong feeling for keeping sports. I mean, 36 is not some magical inviolable number that represents the platonic ideal of how many varsity sports the University should have. We don't, for example, have a varsity bowling team (or ice hockey, rifle, or skiing) even though they are NCAA sports.
BC