Yale Daily News

While there are certainly intelligent, thoughtful, hardworking athletes, there still remains elements of logic behind Ned's article.

The fact remains that the median SAT and GPA of our athletes, while still high compared to national averages and MUCH higher than the averages of athletic teams in state schools, are lower than those of the non-athletes. This doesn't mean that the athletes are unintelligent, it means that they do not meet the academic criteria that Yale has set for "non-athletes". Ned's second point was this: if we are to compromise our academic integrity at all, we might as well go all out, and get the best athlete possible, regardless of academic record. This does not mean that all nationally competitive athletes do not have stellar GPAs or are "dumb", it means that Yale might as well get the best possible athlete available.

Some people have noted that Yale does the same thing with musical geniuses and legacies, and that Yale shouldn't just accept people with perfect SAT scores and GPAs -- that such an attitude would go against everything Yale stands for. This is true. But when Yale accepts a musical genius with a less than stellar academic record, they are usually accepting the top violinist, cellist, opera signer etc. in the country. This is not the case when Yale admits a recruited athlete in many (not all) of its sports teams. They tend to be the best blend of intelligence and athletics that Yale could find -- but they are dilettantes: good at lots of things and masters at nothing.

First, this is old news if news at all given Ned's apology.

And what's the meaning of the generalization (something you seem to claim is wrong): "All that matters is that our sports teams do well in the Ivies, which they generally do, and that Yalies go to cheer them on."

And why does this matter? And in "Yalies go to cheer," how many are talking about (and do you include alumni) -- as an example, few people I know of went to more than 4 football games their entire time at Yale and I can tell you from personal experience Lax attendance was just that with the bulk of spectators appearing to be family of the players. How many sports did you go see last semester Kristin?

Athletes do not choose Yale because if its "academic reputation," Kristin, they choose Yale because it's an Ivy League school that opens more doors after graduation. They could not care less about their education at Yale, and they have proven that many times with their behavior, such as taking gut classes.