USA Today article on Jesuit schools (front pg)

[Lurking Dog]

Everyone likes basketball:

"For a Jesuit school, we have to do more than give lip service to a sound mind and a sound body and the education of the whole person," says the president at Fordham.

I couldn't agree more. So why do so few Jesuit schools have football?

Non-scholarship is a possibility. Duquesne and San Diego field progarms with budgets in the $400-700 K range.

With football there's potential for a lot more sound minds and bodies than with basketball.

Is there any hope some of these schools could start programs?

[DFW HOYA]

The loss of Jesuit football has many causes, among them the forecasts of declining in enrollment in the 1950's and 1960's (which for the most part didn't happen), the urban nature of many schools, and the subtle pressure at the time to appear "more academic" when compared to state-run schools by deemphasizing sports. The contrast is that football is such a big part of Jesuit high schools, but not in college.

Returning sports is also a tricky matter. Like the legal term of stare decisis, college administrators (especially Jesuits) are not comfortable overruling their predecessors regardless of the mistakes, because it sets a precedent for their successors to do the same. That's when you get these "never, ever" remarks from universities who recoil back when challenged over prior decisions.

The Jesuit schools that brought back football share a common thread--the students brought it back, not the alumni. Maybe some students at these schools need to step up and be heard.

[FormerHoya]

I'm not an expert on the subject, but doesn't Title IX make it tougher to field a football team? The sheer size of that team compares to nothing available in women's sports.

[Lurking Dog]

FormerHoya said:

I'm not an expert on the subject, but doesn't Title IX make it tougher to field a football team?

I'm sure it does.

However, Jacksonville and La Salle started new programs in the past 10 years. I'm guessing these are schools with fewer resources than most Jesuit universities.