Athletic Divide

If you hold a national soccer tournament and no students see it, does it really happen?

Sure, I may be exaggerating, but I do not think my point is lost. I spoke with CBU Students’ Union President, Ian Lindsay, the Monday after the CBU Women’s Capers won the CIS national title.

Lindsay said that many people from the community came to the games, but he was surprised because very few students attended. Many other faculty and staff members shared Lindsay’s surprise.

Personally, I do not know why everyone was so shocked.

Students on campus perceive a huge divide between themselves and athletes on campus. They believe that they are treated differently than athletes and they receive less attention for their accomplishments.

There is also a divide between varsity athletes and non-varsity athletes on campus. Non-varsity teams feel like the varsity athletes draw all the attention and funding while they are left looking for scraps. For example, the men’s rugby team at CBU recently won the Maritime Championship; there was no mention of this on the CBU webpage.

The perception of this divide, and the extent to which students perceive the divide, was evident at the CIS championships. Whether this divide exists to the extent that it is perceived is irrelevant. Students feel it, they believe it, and their actions reflect it; the university must take action to deal with this perception in a genuine and sincere manner.

If the university administration attempts to fix this with hollow words and false promises, the level of alienation the general student body perceives will get worse. If this happens, all of the national sports events in the world will do nothing to improve life on campus for the vast majority of students.

One recent bit of news provided students with some hope that the administration will make a genuine attempt at narrowing the gap.

On November 15, the Cape Breton Post reported that, “Charges have been laid against a 23-year-old member of the Cape Breton University Capers men’s basketball team after the schools soccer field was damaged days before a national championship.”

Jordan Wyse, a BACS student at CBU and a guard on the men’s basketball team, is facing two counts of mischief under $5,000. Students’ reaction to this announcement was one that echoed their perception of the athlete-student divide; people were shocked he was facing criminal charges.

On top of facing criminal charges, Wyse is suspended from the team and was one of four players who sat out the Caper’s season opener at MUN.

Wait, four minus one is three; something is not adding up. Why were four players benched that game? Were there other people involved? If so, who were these people? If other people were not involved, it seems odd that three players, aside from Wyse, were benched around the same time as the incident of vandalism.

These questions are floating around campus.

Until these questions are definitively answered and until this issue is treated with more transparency, students will be left to wonder; a cynical black cloud will form around any decision made and any punishment handed down.

I did not write this to re-cast that black cloud over the women’s victory; I write this with the hope that something will happen to correct the perception of disproportion that exists. If those responsible are treated no differently that any other student would be, all are held accountable, and the administration is up front with students, things will begin to change.

This is what students are hoping for; this is what students deserve.

Originally printed in the Cape Breton Post, November 19, 2007.