Do Athletes Receive Preferential Treatment?

First of all, please don't misread this article. I am not saying all athletes are unintelligent. I am not saying that everywhere treats athletes better. I am also not saying that every professor is unethical. I am simply asking if unintelligent athletes get treated like more intelligent people. These are simply my impressions and observations in a few cases of athletes and classes that I have been in. Now let's set the background. I am a fairly smart person, made all A's in high school and the Dean's List in college. I had a 1280 SAT score and a 31 ACT score. I am a fairly talented musician, and attend a college which costs around $21,000 a year. My music and academic scholarships, which should be pretty high, end up at around $17,000. I am not complaining, seeing as that is a lot of money. Now, my question is, do athletes receive preferential treatment in school?

In my general education classes, which are the ones everyone must take to graduate, I have seen some of the most unintelligent people. Some are athletes, some are not. However, while the non-athletes end up flunking out of college, somehow the athletes stay in. I have seen numerous athletes continuously turn in sub-par work or not turn in work at all. How are these students still not only passing, but passing with decent grades? It is obvious that in some cases, athletes are definitely being treated better than non-athletes. After all, what professor wants to be the one who caused a sports star to flunk a class and not be able to play? That would cost them the game! Of course, this game is important. Could it be more important than ethics or morals? Could it also be more important than being fair to students that study instead of play a sport? It seems the two are interchangeable. Play a sport or study. In some cases, a person could make good grades doing either. This is starting to get me a little annoyed.

Now don't think that grades are the only things that make me mad. Some of these athletes that should be flunking out aren't flunking out. They're making decent grades. But they're also keeping scholarships. Remember, my scholarship, mostly A's and a few B's, $17,000. I know some athletes that are getting full scholarships. These people are not getting as good of grades as a lot of people I know. The people I know making great grades, studying every night, are struggling with finances. They are not getting paid as much as people who aren't even smart enough to make it into college. I encourage anyone who reads this to examine their own school for this kind of immoral, unethical behavior and take a stand against these professors.