<p>That facility was built out of donations of alumni who SPECIFICALLY wanted their money to be allocated to the building of a new sports facility. EVERYONE on campus uses it, not just the varsity athletes. The old gym/locker rooms were absolutely atrocious. Also, you can’t build everything at once. I heard there’s going to be some new construction for the arts in the future.</p>
<p>Mark Gould is my academic advisor. He is a VERY intelligent and respectable man. HOWEVER, he is also extremely opinionated about Haverford, and that’s fine, but I really don’t think that his opinion reflects what Haverford is truly about. The first day I walked into his office, he told me that 99.9% of Haverford students are complete morons. (Great thing to say to a nervous freshman.) Okay… and yet you see Haverford students doing great things in the world. But fine, freedom of speech applies here, I suppose. He doesn’t respect his colleagues, either, though. When I showed interest in taking an intro to psych course, he told me that the two psych professors had combined iqs of a dead muskrat, and essentially tore apart nearly every department/class/person at the college. Most people have a hard time dealing with him because he is notorious for hating Haverford (except for the sociology department, surprise surprise).</p>
<p>I have met some very bright students here that I did not even realize were recruited varsity athletes. Their work ethics are just as strong, if not stronger, than some non-athletes since they are forced to stay on a strict schedule due to practices, games, etc. and thus are forced to finish their work with enough time to sleep for their physical well-being. I worked my ass off in high school. I took 10 AP courses, received a 1510 on my SATs, was in the top 1% of my class, and was an active member of several school clubs… in addition to travelling all over the east coast for sports and waking up at 5 am on saturday mornings to get to my 7 am practices. Yet somehow, merely because I’m an athlete, I don’t deserve to be here? I’m sorry, but that’s completely ridiculous. If anything, accomplish student-athletes show they are just as capable academically due to the additional factor of time spent on sports. I would have gotten into Haverford here regardless of the recruiting process.</p>
<p>I have friends that are non-athletes, as well. Yes, my closest friends are on my team, but is that all too surprising? I spend the most time with them; I bond with them. That’s how people make friends: through common interests. Sorry if I came off too strong, but this is a very sensitive subject for me.</p>