When The Game Ends; Engaging Male Student Athletes

“So the time you started smoking pot seems to be around the same time you told me you left the soccer team.  Do you think there’s a connection there?” The look on Mark’s face was one I knew.  I had hit a bit too close to home with my questions. The young man in front of me was being forced, likely for the first time in his life, to realize that his decision making in life was not as arbitrary as he liked to imagine and that perhaps his choice to turn to marijuana was his form of coping with loss.

“I’ve never thought about it, but I guess that makes some sense…I dunno.” That’s 20 year old college-male talk for “that’s exactly right, and now I’m even more scared than I was prior to walking into this hearing.”  We were onto something.

Mark was a 20 year college athlete who appeared to have it all together.  He was extremely athletic, attractive, had an active social and dating life, was always helping others, and grades came easy to him. That changed half way through the fall semester of his sophomore year. Mark got injured and was unable to finish soccer season and then got more crushing news from his doctor—he would never play soccer again.

Mark did a great job of keeping himself together for a period of time, but quickly things spiraled.  He attempted to continue participating in soccer events and traveled with the team, but the frustration he felt with being unable to play left extremely lonely and depressed despite being surrounded by friends.  Mark was in my office for his second drug violation in a month, meaning suspension was likely.

It is a story I have seen too many times in my almost ten years of hearing conduct cases.  Young men get cut from athletic teams or have career-ending injuries and suddenly their structured and successful lives begin to crumble.  Sometimes it manifests itself in disruptive behavior like property damage, sometimes it is high-risk alcohol or drug use, and sometimes it’s more obvious that the student is struggling by exhibiting symptoms of depression and/or engaging in self-harm.  After my first one or two students who fit this description, I was thinking it was coincidence, but after ten or fifteen I now realize it’s a pattern and a problem.  We help our student athletes in a number of ways and offer them exceptional support, but at what cost to their development in other aspects of their life?

By the time most college-level athletes arrive on campus, they have often logged ten to fifteen years of intense involvement in their sport.  These students have spent summer at tennis camps, weekends at softball tournaments, or school nights traveling to soccer matches.  Those who have had the financial means have had private coaches, top equipment and have built their life around their sport.  And for many the hard work has paid off in the form of scholarships.  They then arrive on campus and engage in the full-time job of practice and preparation, while attempting to find time for coursework. For many student athletes the team is their support source, friend circle, and strongest connections they have on campus, and often even off campus. Coaches and athletic staff regularly serve as mentors and substitute parents—often having more face time with these individuals than anyone else in their life. 

While I am not proud of it, before Mark came into my office I thought “oh great, another pot-smoking soccer player.”  I hadn’t realized he left the team, and clearly I hadn’t mastered my own biases.  The conversation started very guarded—not wanting to share much.  He took responsibility for the marijuana expected that was where our conversation would end.  That’s where I inquired about the connection between use and his referrals to student conduct. And the flood gates opened.  Mark shared his challenges, his pain, and his confusion.  For athletes, getting cut from a team is not a disappointment similar to that of failing a course, not getting a bid for a sorority, or not getting the coveted student leader position someone has applied for, this is a long-withstanding part of someone’s identity that is now taken away.  So the challenge remains of how to help Mark and other students make sense of their life after a sport or separate and aside from their sport. 

If I have learned anything along the way regarding my work with student athletes, it is that I know nothing about student athletes. I must let them teach me each time they arrive in my office—which is good advice for any student, but particularly for student athletes, and it has let me unlearn biases as well. But those who are cut from a team and end up in the conduct process have some similar challenges. Generally, the challenge for student affairs educators is to create a supportive environment to help the student process what’s happening around him, within him, and how he might be able to rebuild his identity after losing the identity that has been strongest for the entirety of his short life.  Who is Mark after “Mark the Goalie” is no longer? That was the only Mark he knew and the only Mark he felt comfortable with for the past fourteen years.  Now that Mark was gone—forever. 

On the field there is a coach watching a player the majority of the time they are engaged in the sport.  It is important for those who support or educate college student athletes to remember the importance and impact of this. The player receives immediate feedback on his performance and suggestions of how to improve performance.  This is expected and a natural part of the process. This doesn’t happen in a classroom.  Sure there is feedback on drafts or papers, but there is no one reviewing tapes of how a student interacts with others, copes with stress, or studies.  Many student athletes have perfected their jump shot, and trained their bodies impeccably, but we cannot assume that discipline translates into self-direction or agency.

When a sport is taken away from a student-athlete, it’s not just a game that is gone. Working with others toward a goal, community, coaching/mentoring, time management and structure to the flexible college schedule, confidence, sense of worth, clear athletic department and/or NCAA regulations that are regularly monitored, and the benefits of staying fit and working out regularly.  Often student athletes lack the self-awareness to realize these needs are no longer being met or how to find the resources, and ask for the help in building these things back into their lives.  Remember—this is a group who hasn’t had to ask for help, as their shortcomings were regularly on video and help was provided.

When all of this is taken away and the skills have never been fostered to fulfill the needs outlined above on one’s own, it’s understandable that a former student athlete would quickly spiral. We must recognize these developmental challenges, and help students rebuild.  Even better, we might consider partnering with athletics and offering our expertise in this area to help students begin to build these skills now.  Very few student athletes will continue to play post-college. 

I’ve had informal discussions on this topic with many colleagues and inevitably someone says, “well the process must be similar for female student athletes?”  I can’t answer that question.  What I do know, however, is that of the ten or more men I’ve seen who have been cut from teams, and have responded through a range of means ranging from drug use, to violence, and self-harm, I have not seen any women in the similar situations.  I’ll let readers infer what that is and perhaps in the comments discuss possible reasons.

Finally, let’s be reminded to not infer that getting cut from a team is a causational influence for these men.  There definitely is a relationship between the two, there certainly could be other patterns in these men’s lives that are impacting their ability to prosper after losing their team identity.  In addition, there may be many other men out there who are cut, but continue on in successful college experiences and lives. But the pattern I’ve seen is too frequent at this point to deny a connection. I would be interested to hear others experiences.

As for Mark, he was suspended for a semester.  It wasn’t an easy decision for me, but I knew it was the right choice for Mark.  He needed the time to focus on himself, and his violations warranted the suspension.  Mark left the campus at what was likely his lowest point, but with a plan to engage in substance treatment and meet with a counselor regularly. Mark came back the next fall a new man.  He came into my office, head held high, and with a smile like I had not seen him wear before.  He had a confidence that can’t be articulated.  I asked what changed, and he said “I took off my superman cape.” I asked him to elaborate, and he stated that he realized he was trying to do everything and help everyone else, but lost himself in the process.  Taking off his assumed cape allowed Mark to be his true self.  Mark graduated a few years later.  The smile the day he returned from suspension and the big hug he gave me at graduation assured me that Mark was going to do just fine and that he had all the skills necessary to tackle the world without a soccer ball in his hand and a net behind him. 

Peter Paquette serves as Assistant Dean of Students & Director of the Office of Student Integrity at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA. He has held conduct and residence life positions at Dickinson College, North Central College, and Loyola University-Maryland. Peter regularly presents at national conferences on masculinities and engaging men on campus and serves as a Vice Chair on the ACPA Standing Committee on Men & Masculinities.  He has helped create student organizations, retreats, and leadership programs focused on male-identified students and Men of Color, created numerous conduct interventions focused on healthy masculinities, and worked with men who have perpetuated intimate partner violence.  Peter obtained an M.A. in student affairs and higher education administration from The Ohio State University and a B.S. in communication studies and graphic design from Edgewood College.  He can be reached at paquette.peter@gmail.com.

Masculinity, Media, & How We as Educators Can Use it to Challenge Men

Many colleges and universities across the United States are being challenged by men on their campuses as they are having a hard time being engaged, retained, or graduating.  While institutions scramble to assist these students in their education and development, I challenge educators to consider the root cause of how society has determined how men should behave.

Masculinity and the expectations of what it means to be a male in society can be seen most easily throughout media; television, magazines, video games, movies, comic books, ads, etc.  There are countless classical images I can think of that I have experienced even just in my childhood, to highlight a few…

What message was I to take away from these images as a child?  That it was important to find & rescue my princess as well as beat up another person along the way?  That in order for me to be a man I needed to be beyond human?  As I continued to grow older I was consistently challenged by images of masculinity, seeing preeminent political figures and celebrities engrossed in sex scandals, abusing power, and encompassed in extreme images of masculinity, that I could not hope to match.  All of these images cultivated a sense of hegemonic masculinity in my head as the only men that I saw being acknowledged or discussed were men who reinforced hegemony.

However, it was not until I became an adult that I started to see new images of masculinity taking root in society.  Harry Potter, while a heroic character, was a male character we saw deal with heartbreak, tragedy, loss, and only by giving himself selflessly for his loved ones was he able to make a true change.

The Big Bang Theory has redefined and taken back the term nerd, giving it life and realizing a concept that it is not only important to be intelligent,  but it can be cool as well.

Robert Downey Jr.’s most recent portrayal of Iron Man, displayed a male character struggling with engaging his fears and anxieties and being vulnerable/needing armor in a way that is new and compelling.

Frank Ocean’s coming out experience as a hip-hop artist was embraced openly by some major celebrities/artists in 2012 showing the culture change in an industry that traditionally exuded & consistently reinforced hegemonic masculinity.

Yet despite strides forward in the past decade, we are still seeing issues throughout our campuses and society.  Sexual assault and the roles of men in it are becoming a more common discussion across the country, but how are we addressing the issues before it is enacted?  College men are going through adjudication processes at higher rates than women.  Men are also struggling with alcohol & substance abuse than previously seen.  I believe that the core of these issues and more is how men see themselves as individuals and in relation to the world around them.  Edwards (2009) discussed that males do not feel that they can meet the standards established as to what it means to be a man & are forced to wear a mask.  This mask makes it harder for our males to determine who they are not only internally, but externally in their peer groups, institutions, relationships, and in society.

Since so many of our college students have grown up encompassed by images of masculinity in society and are frequently pressured to wear a mask; how can we as educators use these images in ways that can help challenge the cycle of masculinity?

How do we utilize characters from Television, like Ron Swanson from Parks & Recreation, or Nick & Schmidt from New Girl, to discuss male stereotypes?  Can we find ways to discuss relationships using characters like Pam & Jim from The Office or Cam & Mitch from Modern Family?  How are we challenging the relationship between males and alcohol in our society through films like Flight & The Hangover?  How can we discuss males in the media through engaging videos from YouTube channels like Ill Doctrine? How can we talk about masculinity & femininity in society through movies like The Avengers?

 

I challenge other educators to consider new ways of engaging males on these topics and more.  It is only through this work that we can start to make important changes to our campus climates and start making meaningful change on a broader scale.

Edwards, K.E. (2009). Putting my man face on. College Men’s Gender Identity, 50(2), 210-228.

 Brian Lackman currently serves as an Area Coordinator & as the Coordinator for Residential Curriculum in the Residence Life Office at Davidson College in Davidson, NC. Brian also serves on the ACPA Standing Committee on Men & Masculinities as a Co-Coordinator for Social Media @ACPA_SCM & http://acpascmm.blogspot.com/. Brian is on Twitter @BrianRLackman & can be contacted via email at Lackman.brian@gmail.com. 

Mentoring College Men to Close the Gender Gap: An Interdepartmental Approach for A Small Regional Campus

There is no hiding the fact that college men can be considered a minority. This is not in regard to minorities in the sense of ethnicity, religion, physical disability, sexual preference, or gender identity. Male students, male faculty, male staff, and male administrators are, in terms of higher education, in a woman’s world. 

I work at a unique institution of higher education, WKU-Glasgow.  WKU-Glasgow is a regional campus of Western Kentucky University located in the small town of Glasgow, Kentucky.  Anyone familiar with regional campuses can identify with some of the unique characteristics and parameters of such an institution.  Specifically discussing WKU-Glasgow, the student population is by far the most interesting characteristic.  The total student population of WKU-Glasgow is 2,532.  There are 1,740 female students and 792 male students enrolled at the WKU-Glasgow campus.

This gender difference in enrollment at WKU-Glasgow is nothing new or revolutionary in higher education. According to the United States Census Bureau in 2012, there were 10,032,000 females and 7,456,000 males enrolled in higher education.  While the difference is not vast, I cannot help but wonder why there is such a difference.

However, enrollment discrepancy is not the only issue facing male students in higher education. Males face an array of academic issues within higher education which include overall academic success, academic engagement, completion of degree, higher risk of academic probation, and higher risk of being dismissed from an institution for academic reasons (Kahn, Brett, & Holmes, 2011).   I advise two different student organizations at WKU-Glasgow.  Between the two organizations, there are a total of 11 students.  Not surprisingly, there are eight female students and three males.  Also to no surprise, two of the three male students are currently facing problems academically.  Unfortunately, these are common themes within higher education. 

In comparison to men, women are more likely to experience academic success in higher education. Surprisingly, this is includes most women despite racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic group (Ewert, 2012). This makes me wonder about the importance of masculinity as it relates to male students’ academic success and males’ ability to exist and function in a female-dominated environment.

Clearly, there is a link between masculinity and academic success.  For example, it can be assumed that many males in higher education adhere to hegemonic masculinity, which is “a form of masculinity where dominance is maintained and reinforced through a variety of avenues (e.g. rejecting femininity) (Kahn, Brett, & Holmes, 2011).

Such behavior or ideology as hegemonic masculinity presents a serious dilemma academically. “Reading, writing, analysis, oral discussion and debate, all behaviors that    have engaged humans for thousands of years in cultures all over the world, when constructed as ‘feminine’ run counter to dominant masculinity, which by definition rejects women and femininity” (Kahn, Brett, & Homes, 2011).  The aforementioned behaviors are crucial to academic success. In addition, women typically spend more time outside of the classroom studying, completing coursework, and engaging in academic discussions (Kahn, Brett, & Holmes, 2011).  This alone, unfortunately, has the potential to promote femininity in academics for males.

So, as student affairs professionals and administrators within higher education, how do we encourage males to increase academic success?  What must happen in order to bring the gender gap in higher education closer to equilibrium? These are loaded questions that not one individual or one program will answer since the concept of masculinity takes on a variety of forms through individual perspective.  Regardless, professionals within higher education must be cognizant that men are struggling academically, and more efforts could potentially reverse the less-than-impressive numbers regarding men in higher education.

Fortunately, universities and colleges across the nation have begun combating this dilemma.  St. Norbert’s College maintains a program called “Men’s Initiative.” This initiative is designed to “[provide] resources and educational programming around topics like: dominant ideas about masculinity in the media, healthy relationships and lifestyles, and difficult dialogues about topics like sexual assault” (“Men’s Initiative, n.d.).  Similarly, at the University of Arizona, the Women’s Resource Center opened “The Men’s Project.” which, like “Men’s Initiative,” covers important and relevant issues regarding masculinities and college men. Such initiatives exist within colleges and universities across the nation. 

In light of the programming, awareness, and other efforts to close the gender gap and bring college men out of the mentality that academic success is feminine, college men are still lacking academically; this is evident in Dr. Claudia Buchmann’s The Rise of Women: The Growing Gap in Education and What It Means for American Schools.  

Clearly, within higher education, there are male staff, faculty, and administrators who have encountered the same obstacles that face college men today but have overcome those obstacles.  This realization has increased my appreciation of mentoring programs.  One of the biggest hindrances for males is the mentality that communicating feelings or admitting to struggling will somehow discredit our masculinity. As I have experienced with male students that I advise, many male students will not seek academic help or admit that they are struggling academically.

Of course, there are a variety of mentoring programs that exist within institutions of higher education across the nation. However, mentoring programs that focus specifically on the academic performance of college men seem to be scarce to non-existent. In addition, there do not seem to be any such programs that incorporate an interdepartmental approach in which professional men from academic affairs and student affairs partner to mentor college men. Currently, such a program does not exist at WKU-Glasgow or university-wide at Western Kentucky University. This is a program that I have been thinking about establishing at WKU-Glasgow given the low enrollment of male students, low retention of male students, low academic performance of male students, and low involvement of male students.

Ultimately, I want to contribute to the closing of the gender gap that exists in higher education, especially the gap that exists in academic performance.  For me, an interdepartmental mentoring program would be the ideal method because it creates relationships and accountability as well as a place for college men to break the boundaries that hegemonic masculinity creates.  As Kyle Carpenter’s post “It Takes a Village to Develop Men” (which I encourage everyone to read) suggests, it takes a university or college to close the gender gap at each individual institution.

To conclude, I would like to leave you with several questions to consider in regard to an academic mentor programming for college men:

• Recruiting college men to participate in this program will be a challenge in and of it self. What methods could be used to attract college men to such a mentoring program? Specifically, what methods would help recruit college men who are enrolled in a small regional campus or community college to participate in such a mentoring program?
• It would be my hope that this mentoring program would be interdepartmental.  However, time is valuable for higher education professionals. How could higher education professionals be encouraged to participate in this program (i.e., unite this mentoring program to a student worker position within each department)?
• What would accountability look like for this sort of program? Should there be some sort of formal procedure or policy?
• Should there be any additional parameters set for such a program to limit or control membership/involvement?

Connect With Me:

John Roberts is the publisher of this post.  You can connect with John on Twitter @JohnRoberts348 or via e-mail at john.roberts@wku.edu.  John works at Western Kentucky University Glasglow as the Coordinator of Communications for Student Recruitment.  John also serves as the Co-Coordinator of Social Media for the ACPA SCMM

Resources:

Ewert, S. 2012. Fewer diplomas for men: The influence of college experiences on the gender gap in college graduation. The Journal of Higher Education, 83(6), 824-846.

Kahn, J. S., Brett, L. B., & Holmes, J. R. (2011). Concerns with men’s academic motivation in higher education: An exploratory investigation of the role of masculinity. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 19(1), 65-82.

Men’s intiative. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.snc.edu/mensintative