Question 4:

The Cost of Cancelling HBCU Football

First name M. Last name

Department, Name of University

Course number

Name of instructor

August4,2020

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have had some of their scheduled games cancelled. Dr. Kenyatta Cavil in the video ‘The cost of collegiate athletic programs and the cost of canceling HBCU football’ shares his views on the matter, which will be criticized in this essay. In the video, Dr. Kenyatta brings forward strong arguments about the cost or effects of cancelling the games that I agree with. For instance, he stresses on the economical hit that the colleges, especially the small colleges, will face since the games earn a lot of money for the institutions. He also acknowledges the fact that the first priority should be to protect the student players’ health especially in this pandemic period. The purpose of this essay is to analyze his thoughts and points and state my stance with his arguments.

Dr. Kenyatta Cavil, associate professor and Sports Management Program Coordinator at Texas Southern University, is not shocked by the cancellations since they were inevitable. He says that the trend will continue and other events such as homecoming parties will be cancelled too. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools were forced to shut down. Students had to stay home with uncertainty of whether they were going to complete the semester, let alone the school year. It goes without saying that definitely, the pandemic would have a hit on the games too. Football and basketball games go a long way in earning HBCUs revenue and cancellation of the games would mean deprivation of the revenue. However just like Dr. Cavil, I believe it would be irrational to carry on with the games that were scheduled to happen this fall with the growing numbers of players testing positive for COVID-19. The players would be required to be insulated from society and to be tested everyday for football to be played this fall, and this would financially suffocate some institutions especially the smaller ones. Taking into consideration this factor, I think it was best that the games were cancelled.

Furthermore, suppose the games were to continue uninterrupted, they would have to do so without the audience, in the spirit of taking precautions due to the virus. I agree with Dr. Cavil that absence of an audience would beat the sense of the games. After all, it is the audience that plays a large part in bringing in the revenue from the games. Sale of tickets, refreshments and snacks during the games and so on are some of the major ways in which the institutions earn good money during games. Also, the students would be left a little stranded in terms of accommodation since the schools are closed. It would mean that in addition to the numerous tests for the virus that would be compulsory daily, a lot of money would also be spent on accommodation in other places. According to Dr. Kenyatta, the universities would therefore take back home very little money compared to the five or six figure amount they would initially have taken home. However, The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division | “ Power Five” opened up football team work outs on university campus. I highly disapprove this action since it makes me question how prioritized the health of the players is. Transparency is key, as Dr. Cavil puts it,on what is being done to evaluate the health risk for that population. During this period where there may be a risk of the second wave of corona virus, my view is that it would be best if all the players stayed home and waited for next year’s games.

Being a proponent of Western, liberal forms of democracy would lead to a bias study on authoritarian states. Liberal democracy entails the equal protection of human rights and the application of the rule of law in everyday life in an open society/ community. In authoritarian states however, there is lack of civil liberties such as freedom of worship. These states do not have the government and the opposition alternate in power at least once. Anyone who is a proponent of Western liberal democracy would feel that authoritarian states are hostile and do not cater for humanitarian courses. The study would be set on calling out the leadership in these states and frowning upon most of the laws that are enacted and actions that are enforced in the said states. If Dr. Cavil were a proponent of the liberal democracy, he would have his mind closed off to the idea of a form of government with strong central power as well as limited political freedoms. His study on authoritarian states would mainly accumulate points against that form of governance.

In the video, Dr. Kenyatta Cavil gives his views on the cancellations of the HBCUs football games this fall. The cost of cancelling the games is definitely huge, with institutions losing their chances on large amounts of money. The money is used to fund some projects in the institutions so it goes without saying that some of the colleges will be left at a very bad place financially. All in all, I agree with Dr. Cavil that as harsh as the effects of cancelling the games are on the institutions especially economically, that was the right move for such a time as this when many lives are at risk due to COVID-19.

References

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kfQ3_2ofDQ