Black College Athletes Research Articles

From the Sidelines to the Frontlines: Black Student-Athlete Organizations as Counterspaces at Predominantly White Institutions

Abstract: Significant moments of Black college athlete activism and mobilization marked 2020. One noticeable way Black college athletes mobilized was by creating Black student-athlete organizations (BSAOs). Given college athletics’ long-standing relationship to racism and racial capitalism, it is important to understand how BSAOs function within the athletic subculture and how they may facilitate belonging and community for Black college athletes. Thus, this study explored the purpose and function of BSAOs and the impact of engagement in these organizations on Black college athletes’ experiences at PWIs. Grounded in Case and Hunter’s (2012) conceptualization of counterspaces, the findings reveal insights related to acts of resistance, narrative identity work, and direct relational transactions. The paper concludes with implications for student leaders, practitioners, and future research.

Recruitment overhaul of Black athletes in college sport

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the recruitment and retention efforts of Black college athletes in football, women’s basketball and men’s basketball by white head coaches at historically white institutions (HWI). This study employed Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the educational tenets of: (1) racism; (2) interest convergence; (3) social construction; (4) differential racialization; (5) intersectionality/anti-essentialism; and (6) unique voice/counter storytelling [Bell, D. (1995). Who's afraid of critical race theory? University of Illinois Law Review, 1995, 893–910; Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2001). Critical race theory: An introduction. New York University Press; Ladson-Billings, G. (2013). Critical race theory: What it is not!. In M. L. Editor, & A. D. Editors (Eds.), The handbook of critical race theory in education (pp. 34–47). Routledge Handbooks Online; Solórzano, D. G., & Yosso, T. J. (2002). Critical race methodology: Counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 23–44]. A descriptive multiple case study [Stake, R. (1995). The art of case study research. Sage Publications, Inc.] was designed, and semi-structured interviews were carried out with seven male and three female former college athletes from a Power 5 institution. This study gathered common themes related to former athletes’ intersection of race and gender. The theme of race produced the following subthemes: (1) representation, (2) assimilation, (3) academics and (4) community. Furthermore, the theme of gender produced greater insight in the subtheme of (1) intersectionality. Through the aforementioned themes, the researchers call for a complete overhaul of the current practices of recruiting Black college athletes at HWIs through established offices comprised of researchers and practitioners well versed in providing resources and support for students on and beyond the campus environment.

Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Opportunities for Black College Athletes: Strategically Facilitating Academic Achievement and Successful Career Transitions

Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Opportunities for Black College Athletes: Strategically Facilitating Academic Achievement and Successful Career Transitions

Beyond the scoreboard: Career preparation and transitions of Black college athletes.

Beyond the scoreboard: Career preparation and transitions of Black college athletes.

The (Black) Struggle That Must Be: Black Masculinity, Black College Athletes, and Black Mental Health Through a Looking Glass

In this article, the author describes their mental health struggles tied to Black Masculinity as a (former) Black athlete. In particular, the author focuses on the stigma surrounding mental health in the Black community and the ways in which Blackness, Black masculinity, and mental health battles emulate the (Black) struggle that must be. The author attempts to highlight the complicated nature of mental health struggles, specifically the ways in which suicide is handled in the world of sport and the ways in which the narrative can have juxtaposed racial frameworks. The author moves into and through their own personal experiences with mental health as a Black man, both in present tense and including personal journal entries, to make sense of “the (Black) struggle that must not be ignored.”

America’s Race-Based Caste Structure: Its Impact in College and Professional Sports

Racial inequities in college and professional sports remain prevalent and persistent despite the awareness of such inequities by those with the power to effectuate change. This Article proposes that explanations frequently offered for the slow pace of progress often fail to account for the hierarchy derived from a race-based caste system embedded in American society. Relying on the work of author Isabel Wilkerson, Part II describes major pillars of America’s race-based caste structure. Part III examines how stereotypes of Blacks’ presumed intellectual inferiority and a lack of fitness for leadership roles adversely impact their access to positions of power in both college and professional sports. Part IV discusses how the caste-system hierarchy and its accompanying mindset manifests in the academic marginalization of Black college athletes and the transfer of revenue disproportionately generated by them to predominantly White coaches, athletic administrators, and athletes in non-revenue generating sports. This Article discusses the limited effectiveness of legal doctrine, including anti-discrimination laws and contract law principles, to significantly diminish the above-referenced racial inequities in college and professional sport. In addition, it proposes specific policies that may assist in achieving greater racial equity in sport. It concludes, however, that a necessary step in moving toward greater racial equity in college and professional sports is an honest recognition that systemic racial inequities are, in part, a product of a caste-system mindset.

"Do You Really See Us?":Black College Athlete Perceptions of Inclusion at DI Historically White Institutions

While recent sport research has highlighted benefits of racial diversity on teams and in the workplace, few studies have examined how demographic composition is perceived by college athletes. Fewer have investigated how racially marginalized athletes experience the phenomena. Thus, the current study explores the intersection of race, gender, and athletic identity in Black college athletes at DI Historically White Institutions (HWIs), perceptions of inclusion, and its influence on sense of belonging. Employing critical race theory, two focus groups and six semi-structured interviews that incorporated vignettes were conducted with six current Black athletes at DI HWIs in the Southeastern U.S. Findings revealed five emergent themes: (a) overcompensation for racial marginalization, (b) gendered racism, (c) commitment to social justice activism and allyship, (d) athletes bubble on campus, and (e) invisibility of holistic identity. This research highlights the nuanced experiences of Black college athletes at HWIs and provides implications for coaches, administrators, and faculty to foster a true inclusive environment.

An Examination of the Experiences of Black Football Athletes

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of Black college athletes that played football and graduated from a Division I Power 5 institution. It is well documented that Black football players graduate from Power 5 institutions lower rates than any other student or athlete group, due to a variety of obstacles they face on campus. Despite these obstacles, there are athletes in this group who do graduate from their institution and successfully transition into professional careers. The research conducted for this article is adapted from a dissertation that explores the campus environment that Black college football players must navigate. This article focuses on the impact the social support network has, helping these athletes maneuver through their organizational environment and prepare for life after athletics. Understanding the possible influences of a support network can be a critical strategy for the survival of this group of athletes.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Perceived Exploitation of College Athletes Questionnaire

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Perceived Exploitation of College Athletes Questionnaire Derek Van Rheenen (bio) and Jason R. Atwood (bio) The exploitation of college athletes has been a topic of controversy within American higher education for over half of a century. Ever since the term student-athlete was coined in the 1950s (Sperber, 1999), academics and administrators have debated the extent to which the commercialization of college sports has turned college athletes into commodities, excluded from the free market while their coaches, colleges, and conferences reap huge financial rewards (Branch, 2011; Van Rheenen, 2013; Zimbalist, 1999). Especially in the revenue-generating sports of men’s basketball and football, critics have highlighted the surplus gains expropriated by colleges and universities on the backs of these young men, who are disproportionately Black (Eitzen, 2000; Hawkins, 2010; Rhoden, 2006). The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (“Are the flagship,” 2005) argued, “The case is strong that flagship universities are exploiting Blacks for their athletic talents,” by noting: “The majority of flagship state universities admit Black students who are not academically qualified . . . [and] solely for the purpose of their participation in intercollegiate athletics” (p. 2). James Duderstadt, a former college football player and President of the University of Michigan, also observed that universities “exploit” the athletic talents of college athletes “for financial gain and public visibility,” in part by “tolerating low graduation rates and meaningless degrees in majors like general studies or recreational life” (Duderstadt, 2000, p. 5-6). Even Walter Byers, who served as NCAA Executive Director from 1951 to 1987, titled his memoir Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Exploiting College Athletes (Byers & Hammer, 1995), a clear indictment of modern college sports and the institutional commodification of at least some of these student athletes. To date, only a few studies (Adler & Adler, 1991; Beamon, 2008; Leonard, 1986) have explored the idea of exploitation from the perspective of college athletes, and the limitations of these reports reveal the need for a more comprehensive and comparative analysis. The proposed Perceived Exploitation of College Athletes (PECA) Questionnaire is an internally consistent three-item scale (α = .80). These three items were initially part of a seven-item index about perceived exploitation, which was one of several constructs studied in earlier papers about noncognitive predictors of academic success among college athletes (Simons & Van Rheenen, 2000) and the academic motivation of college athletes (Simons, Van Rheenen & Covington, 1999). In these studies it was found that college athletes who were more committed to their sports were also more likely to feel exploited. Additionally, the more college athletes felt exploited, the lower their university grade point averages. Utilizing this three-item exploitation scale on a sample of 581 Division I college athletes, Van Rheenen (2011) found significant differences by gender, sport, and race. Participants on the revenue-generating sports of [End Page 486] men’s basketball and football were over seven times more likely to report feeling exploited than their peers on nonrevenue sports teams. Van Rheenen (2011) also found significant differences by race in self-reported perceptions of being exploited. The odds of Black college athletes feeling exploited were nearly five times as great as that of White varsity athletes and four times as great as student athletes who identified as Hispanic, Asian, Native American, or any other racial group. The Perceived Exploitation of College Athletes (PECA) Questionnaire, if found to be statistically valid and reliable as hypothesized, will help researchers and student affairs practitioners interested in this important area. For example, the scale will allow researchers to examine whether perceptions of exploitation differ by sport, gender, race, year in school, and/or scholarship status. These analyses can be conducted at colleges and universities who participate at varying levels of athletic competition, are public or private, and who offer scholarships or not. The demographics of the student body at large, relative to the student athlete population, may also be a factor in these perceptions of exploitation. Findings could inform administrators and educators about the need to reform institutional policies related to recruiting, academic support services, career counseling, and compensation. If it is determined that a subset of college athletes are particularly vulnerable to feelings of exploitation, colleges and universities—and the conferences and associations to...

Black College Athletes’ Perceptions of Academic Success and the Role of Social Support

The purpose of this study is to understand Black college athletes’ perceptions of academic success and how social support contributes to their academic success at predominantly white institution of higher education (PWIHE). Utilizing a qualitative approach, the authors conducted narrative interviews to capture the experiences of Black college athletes (n = 9) at a PWIHE in the southwest region of the United States. Critical race theory was employed to understand the social realities and academic experiences of racial minorities within the academic environment. Findings revealed Black college athletes’ social support was based on their role as a college athlete and as a racial minority, thus reinforcing the notion of social isolation and alienation. Acknowledging the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) definition of academic success (e.g., grade point average, graduation), it is plausible that understanding how college athletes perceive academic success and value of social support can aid in achieving academic success according to the NCAA of not only Black college athletes, but a diverse body of college athletes.

O-H! I-O! Black Students, Black Athletes, and Ohio State Football, 1968-1976

Abstract Beginning in the late 1960s at a variety of institutions across the country, black college athletes joined with black students to lead boycotts, walkouts, and demonstrations to demand changes to racially insensitive policies and practices. While news of these events dominated the headlines, they did not occur everywhere. This paper explores why and how many schools managed to avoid black student-athlete revolts during this time of turbulence. Through a case study of Ohio State football from 1968 to 1976, this paper argues that the seeming absence of conflict at many schools around the nation stemmed not from a lack of discontent or from idyllic conditions. Rather it posits that the actions and acquiescence of Woody Hayes and other administrators helped exacerbate differences in conditions and goals between black students and student-athletes, breaking the bonds of support necessary for radical action.

Exploitation in college sports: Race, revenue, and educational reward

The question of whether college athletes are exploited is regularly debated in the popular press and academic literature about college sports. The concept of exploitation, with its philosophical and psychological implications, however, is rarely discussed in detail. This paper problematizes and expands the way in which the concept has been presented within the context of college sports, arguing that exploitation is primarily a moral construct understood as an unfair exchange between two parties. For college athletes, an unfair financial exchange can be measured by comparing the surplus value and marginal revenue product. These calculations may evidence the degree of economic exploitation, but many people still believe college athletes are fairly compensated with a subsistence wage in the form of an athletic scholarship. It is more difficult to quantify the promise or value of an education above and beyond this subsistence wage, most often defined as a college degree. The over-representation of Black college athletes on revenue-producing teams, and the corresponding lower graduation rates of this population when compared to other students, highlight the racial and cultural divisions of opportunity. Institutions face a crisis of conscience when educational opportunities are offered to certain students based primarily on their athletic ability, especially when these opportunities are perceived as disingenuous due to the academic preparation and demanding athletic commitments of these recruited college athletes.

"Ethnic Considerations in Athletics"

This article examines the racial protests by African American basketball and football players at Sacramento State College between 1969 and 1971. Harry Edwards, in his seminal work <i>The Revolt of the Black Athlete</i>, indicates that there were over 30 campus protests by Black athletes in 1968 alone. As a result of his work with the Olympic Project for Human Rights and on the behalf of African American college athletes, Edwards spoke at Sacramento State in September 1968 at a symposium during Inter-racial Week. Sacramento State College, a small state school, less renowned than many of the other large universities where protests had occurred, was part of a second wave of athletic protests. This article contributes another chapter to the stories of racial protests of Black college athletes across the country in the late 1960s and the impact these activities had on their respective college campuses, as well as the broader communities.

"The Only Thing Left for the Whites Is a Couple of Coaching Jobs": Revisiting the Discursive Influence of Pre- and Post-Brown Media on Desegregation and Resegregation in Collegiate Sports

Former CBS sports analyst, "Jimmy the Greek" Snyder said "The only thing left for the Whites is a couple of coaching jobs" (Shapiro, 1988, pp. A1, A10). The Supreme Court's landmark <i>Brown I</i> and <i>II</i> decisions brought a sharp increase in the visibility of some of the most exceptional black college athletes the country. Subsequently, many segregated, white institutions began to recruit these black "superspades" (Harris, 1993, p. 52; and Davis, 1995, p. 627) per team and mass media sources began to compare/contrast blacks and whites via sporting events. This manuscript revisits historical and contemporary messages of the mass media regarding blacks vs. whites in college athletics and considers how mass mediated sports involve (1) discursive innovation (Hughes, 2005), (2) a revolutionary message, (3) simplistic appeals to emotions, (4) rhetorical figures generating an aura of "presence," (5) invocations to a collective identity that is conducive to a situation-distressed collective group seeking a solution to social problems as a means of escape, and (6) dramatization of polarized aggression between forces of good and bad that is indicative of impending doom or hopelessness restricting individual perspectives in favor of collective group identity (Lewis, 1988). The manuscript discusses how this particular construction of messages may have contributed to the desegregation and resegregation (Orfield, 2001) of the two most visible, NCAA Division I sports: men's college basketball and football. Moreover, the article provides evidence of the necessity for an ongoing academic investigation of sports and athletes in education.

The control orientation of black athletes in relation to unobstrusive tasks of skill.

Summary Differential predictions have been made concerning the effect of external beliefs on the skilled performance of Negroes. In the present study i was found that among black college athletes, externality covaried with elevated attainment on unobtrusive tasks.