Wasting Scholarships on the Functionally Illiterate

An English professor at Rutgers is being accused of racism because of these statements which were included in a New York Times profile (h/t Best of the Web):

While he enjoyed teaching many members of the track, swimming and crew teams in his courses, he vociferously resisted the notion that athletic scholarships offered opportunity to low-income, minority students.

"If you were giving the scholarship to an intellectually brilliant kid who happens to play a sport, that's fine," he said. "But they give it to a functional illiterate who can't read a cereal box, and then make him spend 50 hours a week on physical skills. That's not opportunity. If you want to give financial help to minorities, go find the ones who are at the library after school."

The Rutgers administration has come up with a predictable response:

Rutgers Athletic Director Bob Mulcahy told local newspapers that Dowling's comment was "a blatantly racist statement."

In a statement released by the university, Rutgers President Richard McCormick called it "inaccurate and inhumane."

"It also has a racist implication that has no place whatsoever in our civil discourse," McCormick said in the statement.

A Rutgers spokesman said Thursday he did not know if Dowling would face any sanctions. . . .

Dowling . . . called the officials' accusation of racism the "cheapest rhetorical ploy I've ever heard."

Is it racist to decry the money and effort given to students whose only hope of success in life is professional sports, and who otherwise barely have the education and qualifications to ask "would you like fries with that?" I don't think the professor's comments were racist at all, and probably reflect the views of a great many professors and teachers who are themselves afraid of racist accusations should they openly agree with him.

How many intelligent and highly capable minority students are hindered because funds aren't available to aid their educational pursuits? I think the prof's got a good point.