Aaron Hosansky’s “Admitting More Powerful Athletes Could Make Pomona A Formidable Force in D-III,” was one of the best articles I have ever read in The Student Life.
He careful laid out many of the reasons Pomona ought to consider laxer admission standards for some sports.
If Hosanky's plan were to be implemented, his focus on small programs ought to be the primary consideration. Otherwise Pomona’s hypothetical lowering of admission standards risks a mission creep that might be detrimental to its larger mission.
Historically, only two college sports – men’s basketball and football – generate revenue for colleges as a whole. If Pomona’s student body population remains constant, Pomona would be ill-served to have lower admission standards for other sports that do not bring in serious revenue. In fact, as Daniel Golden notes in his masterful, The Price of Admission, lowering admission standards for groups where the gain was comparatively little might even be immoral as students in lower income areas may never have had access to more expensive, esoteric sports. Though Pomona’s administrators might have a hard time justifying to the racquetball, swim, and tennis teams why basketball and football deserve exceptions, they ought to try.
If Pomona tries to be politically correct by lower admission standards for all sports, Pomona risks its academic reputation when it lowers standards for sports which few watch or play.
