Although Dani Holland plugged Southern Nazarene (Okla.) for 20 points in Loyola’s only game the week of the NAIA national tournament, she would have scored zero points on two quizzes for the Rev. Leo Nicoll, S.J.’s, history classes.
That’s because, for Nicoll, “to have people go off and play (other universities) for a cup isn’t part of the university’s mission.”
While it’s a infrequent occurrence, some faculty member don’t excuse away games as valid absences for Loyola’s student-athletes.
“Athletic events aren’t as valid as, say, someone who is advancing their career in journalism or doing research. I don’t see athletics as an event an essential part of the academic process,” Nicoll added. “We’re here to study, not play basketball.”
Wolfpack athletes aren’t, in the traditional sense, advancing their careers in post-season tournaments, Nicoll said, so he doesn’t consider them absences of merit.
Holland, who has ambitions to coach basketball and drew job offers as an assistant from opposing coaches during away tournaments, disagrees. “You definitely network and get opportunities to advance your career just being on the team. I know a lot of people I could probably go work for just playing against them locally.”
While Nicoll draws a distinction between athletes and students who hypothetically might miss class because of a seminar, he does allow all students – including athletes – the opportunity to retake quizzes at the end of the semester. Because he administers a quiz each class and they compose 40 percent of a student’s final grade, it’s a substantial concession.
However, where students who compile a rash of unexcused absences suffer most is in their participation grade – missing a class for what Nicoll doesn’t deem a valid reason results in a zero for the day. And road trips sanctioned by a letter from the athletic director, even for an opportunity to play in nationals, aren’t an excuse Nicoll would deem valid.
Said athletic director Michael Giorlando, “Speaking on behalf of our coaches, we have the utmost respect for the policy regarding students who miss classes, period. It doesn’t matter what organization you’re with, they have their own excused absence policies, and we 110 percent support that.”
To be fair, Nicoll’s policy is within university boundaries.
According to the Loyola student handbook: “A faculty member may grant a student an excused absence if she or he makes a request of the faculty member while presenting a letter from the student’s adviser, coach, etc. … The student is responsible for all work as a result of the missed class. The faculty member remains the ultimate arbiter of the legitimacy of the excused absence.”
ADVANCE NOTICE A SWING FACTOR
Wolpack forward and criminal justice graduate student Dani Holland, who shined during the women’s basketball team’s magical season by leading the team in rebounds, protests the position embodied by faculty members like Nicoll.
“When it comes to grades, it’s not like we get any leniency, and we’re not asking for any less work,” said Holland, a former member of a team that posted a stellar cumulative grade point average of 3.5. “We actually ask for extra work if we need to miss class. We don’t try to get out of anything, we just ask teachers to work with us.”
Whenever the infrequent situation of a faculty member opposing an athlete’s absence to participate in a game as an excused one arises (her criminal justice professors more than accommodated her schedule demands, she said), Holland believes the biggest obstacle is the inflexibility of some teachers. “They’re just like, ‘This is what’s on the syllabus, and athletics are not.'”
Giorlando added, “It’s up to our athletes and coaches to understand that syllabus and understand the nature of the class they’re getting involved with, to know if it’s the right one and if it works with their traveling schedule.”
Rarely, Holland says, some teachers are so inflexible that they won’t even entertain an athlete’s excused absence requests before the semester begins. Athletes will e-mail them a definitive schedule of classes they’ll miss in an effort to arrange for make-ups, but even then, some teachers won’t budge – as is their prerogative.
For that reason, Holland has had to reschedule classes.
However, English professor Kate Adams, the university’s representative to the NAIA, said that the “right to discuss it with the student before the absence” is what’s most important to the majority of the faculty – most faculty prefer to have letters from the athletic director presented and make-up arrangements made at the beginning of class. “That’s something everyone involved should know about the first week of class.
“I’d probably excuse some students going home for a wedding if we had the good talk about it in advance and (the student) decided how (they’d) make up the work. All students just have to realize missing work isn’t an agreement to not do work for that day,” said Adams, who excuses athletes from class for away games on the grounds that it’s a university event.
Giorlando insists problems are few and far between. “The system we have in place works just fine.”
Ramon Antonio Vargas can be reached at [email protected].
