<p>For the past decade, the Duke Athletic Department, and AD Joe Alleva, have urged patience with the football program. Alleva said they needed their facilities upgraded, and he got the Yoh Football Center. He said they needed relaxed admissions standards, and the Admissions Office complied with more recruited players falling in the bottom range of Duke’ standards. He said they needed to upgrade their coaching staff, and he fired Fred Goldsmith in favor of first-time coach Carl Franks. Then, when it became clear that Carl Franks was a disaster, he said the program needed a change and he promoted Ted Roof, another first-time head coach.</p>
<p>Ten years, tens of millions of dollars invested, and this year’s team is all we have to show for it? Alleva’s been given most everything he’s asked for to make Duke Football competitive, and the reality is he hasn’t delivered. Add Duke’s lacrosse problems, steroid abuse in baseball, and the general athletic-academic divide that exists on campus an it’s clear that changes are needed in the Athletic Department.</p>
<p>As John Feinstein wrote in The Duke Chronicle on Friday, Duke should drop out of the ACC in football. Does anyone seriously think that the ACC would kick out Duke? The ACC needs Duke more than Duke needs the ACC. Imagine what Duke could do if it redeployed the 80 full ride scholarships that are accorded the football team each year. Imagine the message it would send across the NCAA if Duke simply stated what everyone already knows: that a competitive Division I football team is incompatible with high academic standards.</p>
<p>As every Duke student knows, the university occasionally compromises it admissions and academic standards in the pursuit of athletic glory. Exhibit A is the Duke men’s basketball team, a team replete with students who fall well below Duke’s average admission standards. Duke athletics are important and deserved to be supported, but not at the expense of academics. Eruditio et Religio, not Athletico et Dollaro.</p>