Athletes Can’t Stay Illiterate Now, Educator Says

An athlete today would find it more difficult to go through college illiterate than 10 years ago, according to Ron Brown, the director of Oklahoma State University’s athlete counseling program.

But Brown also said Friday that student-athletes can still get passing grades without ever coming to grips with the educational process. The use of term-paper banks, test samples and illicit use of student tutors all can help a struggling student earn a passing grade, he said.

Dexter Manley, a former football star at the school and currently a defensive end with the Washington Redskins, told a Senate subcommittee last month that he went through high school and college without being able to read above a second-grade level.

“With the policies and procedures we have in place now, in addition to the university standards, it would be pretty tough for somebody to slip through all the way,” Brown said.

Brown said that a decade ago, special academic services were available to athletes who wanted to take advantage of them. Now, he said, an athlete’s academic career is under closer scrutiny, and Proposition 48 has raised academic standards.

Counselors start with high school transcripts and gather information from coaches and high school counselors about new student-athletes. If the student has a reading deficiency or a form of dyslexia, an individual remedial program is implemented.

Manley said that he survived academically because he was a “good actor.” His college girlfriend completed homework, essays and take-home tests for him, he said.

“I guarantee that Dexter was not the only one who went through an institution (in such a manner),” Brown said from Stillwater, Okla.

Manley left Oklahoma State about 50 credits short of graduation.