<p>I am probably the LEAST qualified person in this forum to answer this question since I have never played a competitive sport (unless you consider 8-ball a sport.)</p>
<p>But, I hate seeing a big fat -0- in a topic column two days in a row.</p>
<p>I far as I can tell, athletes are just part of the general student body up to and including the time when everybody starts to bid for upperclass housing. Their training and practice routines amount in some instances to the equivalent of an additional lab course, in terms of time and scheduling. Because of the amount of time spent with team mates, the bonding starts early and in the majority of cases – at least among males – athletes tend to share housing with other athletes.</p>
<p>Housing options may include one of the two overtly sports oriented frats on campus, neither of which are co-ed. The single sex status of the latter may set the brothers up for some degree of political animus, but, it has been low key of late.</p>
<p>Otherwise, athletes are just part of the scene. I remember when Swarthmore eliminated football and wrestling some years back, part of the explanation was that the teams didn’t fit in with “Swarthmore culture”. That isn’t true at Wesleyan since, when you think about – no one fits into a neatly defined “Wesleyan culture”. Even the frats are tolerated for the very reason that together they throw two or three of the best attended parties of the year.</p>
<p>Athletes at Wesleyan do something else, perhaps: they ground the place. And by that, I mean, they are by and large, political moderates; they are accustomed to taking their time and listening, whether it’s to instructions on a particular piece of equipment or to plays on the field. They’ve learned by experience not to be quite as reactive as some of their fellow students. They make good politicians. </p>
<p>Which may explain why even though athletes study the same things other Wesleyan students do, I’ve noticed that Economics and Government are particular favorites. </p>
<p>Last Spring, a group of Wesleyan seniors went on to found a website dedicated to political discussion. At least one of them was a member of the football team and others may have been varsity players as well:<br>
<a href=“http://www.wesleyan.edu/newsletter/campus/0606beyondpartisan.html[/url]”>http://www.wesleyan.edu/newsletter/campus/0606beyondpartisan.html</a></p>