International Falls Daily Journal - Beautiful day for RRCC graduation, By TOM LAVENTURE, Staff Writer - Comments

The writer is correct, there

Thomas L. Johnson — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:43:28 -0500

The writer is correct, there was a short time when RRCC was just a little school drawing students and student athletes from the area. It was high school on steroids [even meeting in the HS] -- two years for hometowners to get enough credits and continue HS sports careers before they moved on to the next stage in their lives. Some of those graduates including a brother of mine earned doctorates, some played sports at division III or division II schools like Augsburg or Moorhead. And the graduation rates of athletes probably were similar to those of the general student population.

Then Division I and II schools began raising their entry standards with the hope of raising graduation percentages. At Division I schools, football and basketball players graduate at a higher rate than the student population. Fact. white athletes in football and basketball do graduate at higher levels than black athletes [65 to 48 in football; 48 to 42 in basket ball]. At a school like Notre Dame, however, 98% of all athletes, black or white, graduate.

So where do the athletes with poor ACT scores go for college? Community colleges all over the country. It is a part of the system of college sports and has nothing to do with some flaw at RRCC. When these high risk students graduate at much lower levels than the student population -- or drop out when sports don't work out -- it just reflects another aspect of the American achievement gap.
If every university in America had hockey and if over 70% of the hockey players were white people and if you needed a 22 ACT to get into a Division I program, RRCC would start up hockey again and be flooded with high-risk, low achievement players hoping for a miracle to allow them to go to UMD or Bemidji. And very few would graduate and even fewer would move on to 4 year programs.
My point is that the world of the 70's no longer exists in CC athletics -- and it actually never did. When I coached football at a Minnesota CC in the 70's , many of our "skill players" were inner city kids from Detroit. They were kids who couldn't even get into Eastern Michigan, but many graduated from the CC and have had successful careers. Others went back to the streets of Detroit with their dream of success now cloaked in failure. That's life in America. It has a little to do with race but even more to do with sports in America.

roj, There were plenty of

IFallsRon — Wed, 14 May 2008 08:38:17 -0500

roj,

There were plenty of athletes who graduated in the 70s when I was at RRCC. They were from the Falls and the Fort. They were from Orr, Ely, Baudette, Rainy River, Littlefork, Big Falls, Indus ... . When did RRCC lose track of being a community college? Where's your people like Lucy Galipeau now?

IFallsRon, Thanks for

roj2000 — Wed, 14 May 2008 08:07:32 -0500

IFallsRon,

Thanks for asking the question that I had been pondering, but could not since I would be labled a "racist" if I had!! But I would be curious to know if "ANY" football or B-ball players have EVER graduated from RRCC. Let's see if they offer up any statistics, or just rely on the old race card!! But the most important point is the above people who DID graduate! I congratulate them - WELL DONE!!!!

Did any men's basketball or

IFallsRon — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:17:53 -0500

Did any men's basketball or football players graduate?

Beautiful day for RRCC graduation, By TOM LAVENTURE, Staff Writer

Tom LaVenture — Mon, 12 May 2008 14:17:32 -0500

Ninety-four people graduated from Rainy River Community College Friday, with commencement shared with families and friends, and including speakers and music.
There were 21 graduates receiving advanced degrees and one student with multiple degrees. The average age of the graduates was 25 and nearly a quarter of the class, 23, were students of color. Fifteen of the graduates earned an associates degree while still in high school.