Georgetown's Student-Athletes

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

The March 31 editorial "Go, Georgetown," which critiqued Georgetown University's men's basketball graduation rates, relied on data for players who entered Georgetown from seven to 10 years ago.

Those data include student-athletes who enrolled at Georgetown but later transferred or withdrew. Other facts demonstrate our commitment to educating student-athletes.

Consider:

· The two seniors on this year's men's basketball team plan to graduate. Last year, all five seniors on the team, all of whom were African American, walked across the stage in May with degrees. In 2005, the one senior on the team graduated, and in 2004, the team's three seniors graduated.

· Every player has access to an academic counselor and takes courses year-round. Since 1996, of the players who played four seasons of men's basketball at Georgetown, 16 of 17 received degrees. This speaks to Georgetown's deep, long-term commitment to providing the support and resources for our athletes to succeed academically.

Georgetown's athletics program develops student-athletes who act with integrity, play competitively and are prepared to succeed on and off the court.

BERNARD M. MUIR

Director of Athletics

Georgetown University

Washington

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Having taught as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and lectured at and sat on the boards of some of the nation's most prominent schools, I think it is important to give some insight into the 47 percent graduation rate of Georgetown basketball players.

Georgetown, one of the most difficult schools in which to gain admission, consistently has one of the highest graduation rates among U.S. universities. If a student flunks a required course, he or she must retake it and meet with a counselor at the dean's office several times during the next semester to monitor his or her progress and to address any problems.

Most professors, however, flag problems long before a student fails a class. Reading-lab experts, psychological counseling professionals and other support specialists have been hired by Georgetown to give students the tools they need to succeed in the classroom.

Regarding athletes, coaches are in touch with professors at the beginning of the semester to alert them to students on sports teams and to identify scheduling conflicts. Coaches actively request a heads-up regarding potential problems.

With Georgetown's return to the upper strata of the NCAA, those of us who teach at the school, not to mention the administration and coaching staff, will be redoubling our already hard efforts to see that star student-athletes also achieve the rank of "Georgetown graduate."

JAMES P. MOORE JR.

Alexandria

The writer teaches at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business.