This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
College football conference expansion season is upon us and the debate about whether or not Brigham Young University will get a Power 5 conference bid is in full swing. But before we let that take our full attention, let's take a second to fully appreciate how Kalani Sitake and BYU football made history last December.
Sitake became the first Tongan to be named as a collegiate head football coach, and we should all applaud BYU for their decision! To put this all into perspective, let's remember the very select group that Coach Sitake is joining. Even though nearly 60 percent of college football players are non-white, only about 10 percent of the 128 Football Bowl Subdivision programs have non-white head football coaches. Sitake joins the few and reminds us of the need for change.
Unfortunately, minority coaches are seldom given the same patience in building their programs as their white counterparts. With BYU facing arguably their most competitive football schedule ever, we strongly urge fans, boosters and administrators to provide the resources and time needed to grow BYU football to its full potential. Sitake's hire was huge, historic and exciting, but our hope is that it becomes a catalyst for change beyond football.
Research shows that people in leadership positions have a more positive impact academically and socially when they look like and understand the backgrounds of those who they lead. Sports have often provided a bridge for many Pacific Islanders to higher education but completing a college degree seems to linger as Pacific Islander student-athletes do not graduate at the same rate as their white counterparts. Attaining a college education provides opportunities that facilitate economic and social advancement for the players and their families. These issues are chronicled in Vainuku and Cohn's 2015 documentary "In Football We Trust."
The fallacy that Polynesians and other communities of color have low aptitudes for academics but are innate athletes influences their academic outcomes. Such perceptions often manifest in the way teachers, administrators and coaches perceive their intellectual capabilities and cultural backgrounds. Moreover, this deficit thinking often results in the mis-education of Polynesian students and tracks them into non-university-bound paths. This "football or bust" framework can lead to further consequences. If Polynesian students are not encouraged academically, are they being set up to fail, and does this failure funnel them into gangs or prison? In 2011, Pacific Islanders made up less than 1 percent of Utah's population while composing 13 percent of Utah's gang population and over 1.5 percent of Utah's state prison population.
Conversely in 2014, the public high school graduation rate for Pacific Islanders in Utah was 85 percent, the highest of any minority group, but they had the lowest rates for enrolling in college. In addition, more needs to be done to support pathways to graduation once these students enter college. In 2014, white student-athletes had a 90 percent graduation rate compared to a 73 percent graduation rate for students-athletes of color. Considering that only about 2 percent of college football players will make it to the NFL, we need to create an educational system that graduates more student-athletes with marketable degrees rather than with just athletic experiences.
We suggest BYU and other universities support student-athletes' persistence to graduation by providing free college prep courses for underrepresented students so they are academically ready to enter the university after high school. Once student-athletes arrive on university campuses, they should be prioritized as students first and then as athletes by investing in career exploration that supports professional plans after football. Given the tens of millions of dollars college football teams are generating annually, players should be guaranteed at least three years of full financial support to complete their degrees after they are done playing. This would provide a transition period where athletes can turn their full attention to academics and no longer have to choose between time spent studying and time spent watching film, practicing or in the weight room.
Finally, specific to BYU, the Honor Code needs to either be eliminated or significantly modified. The current honor code-sexual assault scandal should be a wake-up call to the administration that its time has long past. If elimination isn't an option, then the ecclesiastical punishments and team rule violations should be completely divorced from matriculation status or the student's pursuit of a degree.
How many times at BYU have we seen the one-year suspension from school turn into the death knell of the athlete's academic career? It's time to change the archaic paradigm. BYU and Sitake have an incredible amount of excitement and anticipation surrounding the upcoming season, so let's hope that snowballs into good that extends outside the football stadium and back into the communities that have graciously trusted us with their youth for this short time.
Ulysses T. Tonga'onevai is a Ph.D. student in the College of Education at the University of Utah studying the commodification of Polynesian athletes by American university football programs. Jonathan C. Marshall received his Ph.D. from BYU and is an associate professor in the College of Science at Weber State University. Both authors are former university football players.