Diploma Sadness

The Chicago Tribune’s Clarence Page wants to see at least a minimum graduation rate of 40 percent before college basketball teams are allowed to compete in post-season play. “We often sell our young people short when we judge their academic potential. They respond to our low expectations with low achievement, especially in the entertainment industry known as college sports. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has a dream. He wants to ban college basketball teams from postseason play, also known as March Madness, now under way in workplace gambling pools nationwide, unless colleges can graduate at least 40 percent of their talented, unpaid employees. That’s hardly too much to ask, and I’ll believe it when I see it. I’ve grown cynical. I can’t watch March Madness without thinking of June sadness: the countless number of athletes who play out their eligibility without reaching the brass ring of professional stardom or a college diploma.”