The Black Student Athlete at ISU: What's Necessary for Success?

Hello my name is Myron Samuels the intercollegiate athletic department at our State University is proud to sponsor this panel discussion on the black student-athlete we have assembled a panel of former student athletes who have first-hand experience with Iowa State and for the next few minutes we will talk about those things that may be necessary for all student athletes to be successful quote-unquote both on and off the playing fields at this time allow me to introduce the panel to my far right we have Troy Franklin Troy is a graduate student pursuing a doctoral degree in higher education Troy is a two-sport athlete from Langston University Troy will offer for this discussion a perspective from the black college to my immediate right we have Alexia Anderson Alexia is a four-year letter winner in track and field and the galaxy also was a student representative on ISU athletic Council Alexia is from Pleasant Valley Iowa to my immediate left we have vanessa ward from miami florida vanessa is a former four-year letter winner in basketball vanessa was recognized as the Alba Kate academic recognition next to vanessa is huge suffering Hughes is a graduate student pursuing a master's degree in higher education uses a former to sport athlete here at Iowa State participated in both football and basketball next to hughes is matt goodwin matt is from Ames Iowa matt is currently a member of the cyclone football team and president of the Black Student Government Association here you responded yes to the question that the black athlete has been exploring epidural in white colleges and universities as a college administrator that I'd taken a defensive spot your posture on that what do you mean by exploitation and in what ways do you think that the black athletes being exploited okay I guess the first thing I should do is give a dictionary definition of exploitation and it's an improper use of another person for one's on own profit or advantage now using that definition I can come up with hundreds and literally hundreds of examples of ways that black suit athletes are being exploited on campuses across the country however what I'll do is cite one so you'll know exactly where I'm going with the word exploitation I read in black issues in higher education the periodical that of 20 black student athletes that played on Memphis state's men's basketball team between the years of 1976 and 1986 only one graduated of 20 only one graduated at North Carolina state's program only two graduated in a similar 10-year span so I'm not trying to really say that all universities are practicing exploitation but we have to keep in mind that black student athletes are a very big part but really the backbone of these programs that are generating millions and millions of dollars each year and yet we're only graduating 30% of them okay if I if I hear he was correct Vanessa he's talking primarily about those revenue generating sports ie men's basketball and football what do you think about the question the black athlete being explored expounded if you will and if you could give me a woman perspective on that question is the woman does the black woman experience something different than what men to go through okay I like to start off by saying that I agree that students black student-athletes are exploited but I believe that only because when they come into a system they have no idea what's going to take place the administrators the staff and all of those involved in a student athletes career they know what's going to happen in those four five years if they don't inform the student-athlete what is going to take place or what they think might happen then yes they're being they're being exploited because they aren't aware of what's going to happen I think that they aren't being exploited because they have to find ways of finding those things up coming into Iowa State as a freshman you have no idea what's going to happen after your freshman year you used two things you should be on your way to finding out things and if something happens to you then that means you had a hand in it because I don't think you have to go along with anything you don't agree with so the first year I think yes they're being exploited because they aren't aware of what's what's happening but after that I believe that they have a hand in that okay you talked about things happening and what's going on help me Lexia talk about what happens and what things go goes on as an incoming freshman as far as avoiding the pitfalls that may take place well basically when you first come here you have to realize what your goals are you have to decide what you're gonna major in a lot of the times freshmen come in here they don't have the slightest idea what they're gonna major in of course the academic counselors they automatically just put you in what other whatever classes and most of them are elective classes so they spend a year just spending most of their time with just elective so that sets them back a year it all is based on like what vanessa was saying that first year is it does take a lot of adjustment but if you have goals if you know what you want to major in and if you set yourself in to time management then you shouldn't have that many problems and it's all based on individual responsibility okay trying to bring you into this because you hear you want you were offered to us a black college perspective now the literature suggests that the black colleges historically has done a better job with student athletes as far as graduation rates are concerned how do you see the black college experience in comparison to what you are now studying as well as the Iowa State experience that you now hear working with the academic counseling services etc help us out a little bit well first of all mine I guess the biggest thing it would be that most of the black colleges were particularly all of them have a nurturing environment you often hear that Iowa State or predominately white institution maybe lacking in black role models or minority role models that's not the case that a black institution and you have to realize - they're being smaller a smaller liberal arts school will have a more of a teaching emphasis so they're gonna have to be more concerned about the athlete commitment outside the classroom as well so I think it would are if I could sum it up it would have to be that caring factor that they really do care because they can relate these professors many many of them are black I've been through some of the same experiences as many of those athletes so they understand it a little bit better okay Meg let me bring you into this because we are talking basically compassed experience all of these guys have girls have finished their playing days you're still currently going through that you were some current member of the cyclone football team how do you see things changing or have they changed since the days hues have gone through them and just generally what are your perspective and share with us if you will the success or the means of ways of your being success going through the the process well well I can relate to two huge because I know they went through a lot of stuff you know he was on the football team and I talked to him about what he went through so I do know somewhat what they went to but when I was when I came here as a freshman I would have to say that you know going to a college there's a lot of things thrown at you you're thrown into a different environment but going to a college being a student-athlete you know you have to deal with practices you know that that you didn't experience in high school there's more film sessions more a lot more vigorous activity you know and you're always you know separated with the football team and and when you come here you kind of sometimes you might lose sight of that you can't a college to get an education because we come here as freshmen football players you know it's the season and the goal of everybody there and coaches players alike is to win games and you know that's a good gold in the season but we can't forget that you know we can there for education and stuff I think that is a problem because when you come there you're freshmen you got recruited for football you want to go out there and play football and do good and they're seeing sometimes not to be anybody there to remind you that you're there for school okay I think that's what needs to be in place well let me give you two are like talking about basketball and football for the lower revenue like for me track I feel that it's a much higher graduation rate and a lot of the coaches are less stressed on just competing and just I'm going to practice and all that like for instance my coach he was very supportive I mean fact if I had a test the next day he wouldn't expect you to be at practice you know if you had something to do that you had to get done they wouldn't expect you to be at practice but as ik like for basketball my boyfriend was on a basketball team he could never miss a practice no matter how much work he had to do no matter what there was no obsess there was no exception you could never miss a practice and I think the coaches just have to realize that school does come first and most of the coaches don't Vanessa let's open up the Iowa State experience how was it when you came here from Miami Florida long way from home different climate different culture makeup different demographics etc one of the things that you know the threw you a curveball and how were you able to avoid the pitfalls okay as far as the university experience goals I was throwing a lot of curveballs but in my experience from coming from Miami I was strong enough and I guess stubborn enough not to fall into them okay they were presenting if you will about pitfalls what when we say pitfalls help me define what pitfalls me okay like a year down the road from when you come into Iowa State University you find out that you might not be eligible because your classes aren't towards your a degree and you find yourself taking a whole bunch of classes during the summer I from my experience compared to other black students experiences that are on the teams the basketball team now they they fell into all of those because they didn't I don't know what it is is I think that they didn't they just didn't inquiry enough about what was why they were doing this now because now was more important to them and now wasn't important to me back then four years from then was important and I always had graduation in sight because I knew that was why I was here but there were people that come out of high school that basketball are more important and I'm not saying that's wrong it's just that's their priority mine happened to be getting an education and I think that's what kept me from falling out of that cuz I wouldn't settle for anything they told me I mean I took their advice and I used it to my advantage but I questioned it I questioned it then and I questioned it now why am I doing this is it going to help me how how is it going to help me and I don't think students seventeen and eighteen year olds we don't really learn that we learn to respect you know people in higher positions and that's what we do is at least coming in and that's our fault okay that's our pitfall trying to come in here and talk if you will you are doing some work with Steve McDonald in the academic service department how do you deal with these students who come in and may not have the focus or may not see the one or two year priority that vanessa is alluding to and just have basketball basketball and we know from the literature that you know that is a a problem dealing with the black male in those sports of men's basketball and football how do counselors deal with that or what do you offer well I get a little a little background about it mine it's it's not an easy one because you you go back to the high schools where it's amazing you can see a gym packed full of people at a ball game but you see two parents black parents at a PTA meeting it's values these students they don't have a number of role models coming up they see a Michael Jordan or bo Jackson and and particularly since the sports they're getting into will they'll have an opportunity to play professionally so when the only time only role models you have all your life as sports athletes you it's difficult to take their focus away from sports that's all they want to do but so our role I guess you know working with Steve and a number of academic support services is to help them take some type of ownership and the see down the line hey my sports career is gonna end one day and I have to prepare and take advantage of the scholarship and not let it take advantage of me and and like you say it they need people and role models specifically that have been down that road and they need to see that people care but it's an ongoing struggle I mean you can't I don't think it's fair to take away a person's dream if they want to play pro ball that is fine but we have to instill in them that hey you know you have to come here and an education is going to be important for you to survive just playing basketball won't get them there and that's what some of the coaches they do that they they talk basketball basketball basketball these are the steps you have to take to get to that point but they never in entwine academics with sports they never they never meet it's either you do this or you do that or you don't do any of it and you're gonna do something because you you have a dream of playing basketball you're gonna do what it takes to get there just like if you have a goal of graduate you will okay mastery you experience you benefiting from the advice of your your peers and and these are your role models whether you recognize them or not tell us if you will is the best you could share with us what is the talk among the teammates in the locker room at the training table what are they talking about and if those individuals maybe talking about a professional career how does the conversation comes into play about men there's some other things that are important and share if you can how's that different from female athletes well talking the locker room well basically from 8 to 5 or 8 to whenever your class get out you're you know basically with class and you're focusing all your concentration on that but when you're at practice you're at practice and there's not I don't think there's too much conversation going on about academics anytime you're in the athletic facilities including training table then they may be after part time I don't think at leats like so said even contemplate what's gonna happen later in life you know maybe like when they're close to graduation three you know their third year their junior year dinner you know if they figure out you know maybe I don't have a shot at the pro career you know what I'm what am I gonna do you know but if they the whole time they go through they're thinking they're gonna play pro or whatever they think you know they can go Canadian or whatever they think that you know it's too late for them they're already gone when they finally think about you know what's what's gonna happen with their life and in their later life but I think that if there's like you know I found in you a positive role model cuz I mean you're involved with the athletic but but the business part of it you know and maybe if you know we had some people come down and talk to the football team about you know you know if I'm a business major if the football team you know brought in somebody you know from a business you know maybe a black person or or it could be a white person it doesn't really matter as long as somebody came in and said you know or you're a business major and you know this is what you can do and you know you can have the nice cars and the nice things and you know the family and all that you don't have to go out and beat up your body for it and you know it's just something you want to do and you know if not you know why is your major business and you know you get done with football when you're 25 you know you have that rest of your life to do something you know with it and you know did your majors business you know let's get you going on business but there's not anybody to do it and all the student athletes are thinking the same thing you want to make a comment but I wanted I want to throw this at you within your comments you had that dream of playing professional sports I don't notice I'm assuming of one of the two sports that you played you came here as a participant in two sport you graduated you're now a graduate student tell us about your transition the process you went through looking for my dreams playing both football and basketball but then finally say hey I have to get my degree as well and now I'm looking for bigger and better things well I had role models so when I when I was grew up with you know the two-parent family and I had positive role models all around me I'm with the close-knit family you know and there's a lot of us so when I came here I felt strong and I knew was going I had goals I knew what direction I was headed in even though I liked football and that's really what I wanted to do I knew I was going to get a degree now I almost slipped and fell into one of those pitfalls vanessa was talking about in that so many of us do after that first year we're fighting to stay eligible you know I went through the summer well actually after the fall semester I had a point something something grade point average and I'm now fighting to get back on track and I think a lot of that is you got to take it upon yourself to go to class you got to go to class well first of all you got it you got to know how to pick your friends you got to know how to pick your friend because if your friends aren't studying you're not gonna be studying for why okay you got to go to class C and being going to class is not enough you got to be there and be there on time you know because you're stereotyped when you hit the door and you hit the classroom door your stereotype so you got to overcome all kind of obstacles so be there and be on time you've got to know more than just the football team you got to know more you got to venture out into the mainstream of the population of the University and get to know some other people and that way you can you know you won't feel so isolated because isolation is a big problem when you come in when the only person that you can really talk to is the person that brought you here and that's your coach you know and that's wrong so I didn't really fall into I guess the Norwood everybody else was falling into because I always had you know people around me that I knew I I knew a couple of people for I came here so so you put a hole you put a strong emphasis on time management and balancing those things between the practice commitment and restraints and being able to go to class definitely and if I could I'd like to give you a normal day you know just off the top of my head a normal day for football for me when I got here and it this new coaching staff here now but when I got here a normal day would be wake up go to class from 8:00 to 2:00 you had to be down at the stadium at 2:15 for films until 3:15 go to class and meet the two suppose my classes at three three didn't take it during the season you couldn't take it during the season not it not if not if you were on the traveling Scott squad you couldn't take it during the season I mean you could but you would play I mean they kind of made that clear so then you got from three to five you know 315 is films and then you had to be on the field at 3:30 right yeah you'd take it on that by 3:30 okay 6:15 6:30 maybe practice is over but you haven't lifted weights yet so sometime between 8:00 and 2:00 and 6:30 and 7:00 you have to lift weights and then you got to get the training table before it closed training clays training table closes 7:30 8 o'clock and then you have study table from 8:00 to 10:00 and then you start this all over again now you realize that I haven't even mentioned a social life and then once you throw that in then something's going to suffer even your athletic so your academics is going to suffer okay so time management is really important okay what is what does the literature say that is happening across the country as far as the student instructor relationship ever done with white colleges and university well obviously you know when you're at a large institution Meyer and the focus is going to be research and there's not a lot of opportunities to engage in dialogue particularly because if they're not tenured they're shooting for tenure and their focus is research many of you have experienced being in the classroom it's two three hundred students they're standing up there there's no opportunity to collaborate with other class members because he's busy taking notes so all of you and all of us have experienced that but the faculty seems to be less connected with the student and it seems to contradict the student development purpose I mean we're supposed to have this holistic point of view or a concern about developing the total student but it amazes me that during the season before this ad hoc committee report came out many of you probably heard about it the faculty members had nothing to say but when that came out in the report they wanted to make all the decisions and I just I don't think that's fair they're being very reactive instead of being proactive with the situation okay man I think that uh that when you're talking about the student instructor relationship I think it goes back a little farther to when you first come here and your advisor and everything because you know when I first we talked to my advisor you know I you know I talked to him about you know what out you know I became as a business major or actually a Poli Sci major and you're not talking about what I wanted to take and what I wanted to be and all that kind of stuff and you know I think like when I first I talked to different structures advises the first one was like I think he looked at me as a black student athlete and uh you know my schedule was handed to me you know I didn't it was handed to me just here you go this is what you need to take you know cuz you know ya football and you know other stuff you know and then I was you know I went back and talked to my mom and you know she told me you know math isn't the right schedule for you so I went back I talked to another advisor you know she she saw that I was from Ames you know a good school system my AC T was good I told him I came around academic scholarship not athletic and my schedule changed just totally and you know so I went you know that's the first experience I had from our state so then from the get-go I knew I had to watch what I was doing now some of the students you know or student athletes they come here and like Vanessa said they trust them and that sort of thing and they went back with that pitty pass schedule that they originally gave me you know and I think the expectations of success or failure on you know the black student athletes measure totally different and especially when you're talking about coming in for one or two years you know they think that's okay for the black student athlete but I'm pretty sure they don't have that view about the white student athlete you know that's just my personal procession of that you know I don't think they say you know well they can come here for one or two years and go back to wherever they're from you know but since you're black student athletes come from an inner-city school or whatever they are better off one or two years and nothing now so that's just not right let me throw this out in any one of you can jump and run with it what do you think that we as college administrators or athletic administrators can do more of or what do you think is missing from a total support service here again what do you think we can do better as far as to making sure that our success ratio for the black student athlete prove I think one thing is necessary is a mentoring program because once these if we can get these student athletes here and get an implemented mentoring program right off someone that they can hook up to whether it's just a big brother system with enough with a successful athlete you know or it can be a faculty mentoring program where they're showing them the ropes I think that's necessary that way those pitfalls you know they won't fall into him because somebody can say well this is the person you can talk to you for this or this the person you can talk to and they're always be you know directed in the right direction you know that's important for the faculty to remember is that each person that comes through Iowa State as an individual and just because they are black and on the football basketball track or what have you that their experiences are different so you can't just give Matt a schedule and inspect him to follow it because as a person you didn't even get to know him you don't know if he has dedication the dedication it takes you know to get a degree you don't know any of that just because you see that black football player down there on that paper done mean you can go to a computer which generalizes everything and expect Matt to comply with that you have to treat us as individuals and then I think the next step is honesty just straight-up honesty I mean what's to hide is there something they're hiding from us why don't they tell us everything when we come in so we can be prepared for whatever is going to happen next I agree to both of you all because what I feel Myron is that there needs to be more collaboration between faculty and student support services it I don't know if there's animosity being on inside you can see that there's that's lacking and I think the institution needs to re-examine its focus particularly on its arm delivery services it's a shame that there has to be so much duplication particularly with the study table and things where this support services set up you're talking now the athletic department and the general student support service exactly because like I mentioned earlier that this institution runs from 8 to 5 while not just for the athletes but they could offer services for the adult students I mean another students that may need special needs and I think we need to get away from this separatism idea and start there needs to be more and we need to integrate the students into the general body somehow in every every situation we get an opportunity to do that we need to do it because we're it's like we're just a separate entity I mean athletes are here the students here and the only time they get to see them is doing an athletic event or oh gosh I got such as such in class and they never respect them other than an athlete it's just oh they talk about sports how you doing how many points you hear yeah but they're not concerned about them as an individual okay you tell you mention it you mention a point and let's let's bring that up the students here the athletes here match start us off on this how is it living in Ames and what do you see the guys talk the guys are girls you your peers talking about coming into the Ames community well when I when I can't Alex I didn't foresee myself as quote/unquote a student athlete I came here as a student basically you know I'm football or something I wanted to do so when I talked amongst my graduating class from high school I think that's what you're talking about yes come you know we all talked about the same things you know and then my partner that came up right behind me you know I tried to get him straight as much as possible you know they come in here and you know I came in here and I did my job for a semester and I found it's a lot better you get those first semester grades it's so much easier to keep your grade point up then it is to bring it you know or to keep it where it's at and said you know having to come back from one point or acquaint something something you know because you know you think it's gonna let up second semester after the season's over but it just doesn't and you know and that's the way I proceeded when I was coming up here okay it likes it helps them talk a little bit more about your perspective what you see and your personal experiences if you may about the interracial relationships in the community the public's perceptions and attitudes of black students or black student-athletes could you share something with us on on that line well when I came here like I said I came from an all-white school so I didn't really see when I came here I didn't look at everything as being black white black white which it is definitely because I had all white friends and so when I came here I had more problems adjusting to being around blacks all the time which you're forced to do at Iowa State it's like the blacks hang around each other and the whites hang around each other that's ridiculous you know I mean I don't know I guess a lot of black people think that that you need this unity which is true it's great you know you do need the unity but it separates you even more from the University you know and like Troy was saying people need to be integrated more and I think that if people didn't separate themselves and try and stick within a group where they're comfortable in and try and integrate within everyone that it would they would see someone else there's someone else's perception and maybe it would be just a little bit easier you know cuz like he said when you're picking your friends you know if you pick someone that's going out all the time you're gonna be going out all the time but if you pick someone you know that studying and stuff and is making it is succeeding then maybe some of their habits will rub off on you you you you'll make up and you six foot tall or so a better of you your body is lean and strong you look like an athlete when you walk into a store downtown or at the mall what feelings what's your perception of that environment or we knew any place with friends etc in any of the eateries well I'll say now if you do walk into a let's say a mall let's say you walk walk into Yonkers or a department store or something and if there's more than one or two of you you're gonna be watched you're definitely gonna be watched that the little person may come may follow you until you until you're out of the store and it's you know you know on a couple occasions I turn around say listen I got enough money to body store you know just uh you know leave me alone is you know I mean not I said it like that but I definitely got the message across that you know I didn't want to be bothered but you got you have to realize that you are in a fishbowl you are going to you somebody's always watching you I don't care what you do is going to be blown up if you run if you run a stop light and get a ticket it's going to be in the paper you have to realize that whatever you do is front-page news I don't care how little it was I don't care if you did it in high school but you can't do it here you know and you just have to understand that and - I want to mention something that Troy was talking about and you mentioned cultural awareness and I think that is I don't want to say a solution but it's a step in the right direction we need to to learn about each other's culture if we can do that in some sort of orientation if it's just the orientation for everybody and and maybe have a something like a visa but have it in the in the fall and have an in an orientation style where we get to you know have booths or something set up for each different cultures whether we have an international student