Lit 1

Sorry that it is a little all over the place

1. Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Perceived Exploitation of College Athletes Questionnaire
2. by Derek Van Rheenen Jason R. Atwood

Van Rheenen, Derek and Jason R. Atwood. "Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Perceived
Exploitation of College Athletes Questionnaire." Journal of College Student Development,
vol. 55 no. 5, 2014, p. 486-491. Project MUSE,

This article discusses the study that went on at various universities giving a questionnaire to
athletes from different races, genders, and sports on whether they feel like they are exposed.
This article contains facts that I can use in my paper from a study. The article also goes on to
discuss the services that college athletes deserve to be provided to help them feel they have
been afforded a genuine educational opportunity. “Conversely, when college athletes feel
valued primarily or solely for their athletic talent and potential, they are more likely to feel
exploited by their institutions. “

Quotes: “James Duderstadt, a former college football player and President of the University
of Michigan, also observed that universities “exploit” the athletic talents of college athletes
“for financial gain and public visibility,” in part by “tolerating low graduation rates and
meaningless degrees in majors like general studies or recreational life”

The study found that 1. college athletes who were more committed to their sports were also
more likely to feel exploited. Additionally, the more college athletes felt exploited, the lower
their university grade point averages 2. revenue-generating sports of men’s basketball and
football were over seven times more likely to report feeling exploited than their peers on
non revenue sports teams. 3. The odds of Black college athletes feeling exploited were
nearly five times as great as that of White varsity athletes and four times as great as
student-athletes who identified as Hispanic, Asian, Native American, or any other racial group

Van Rheenen, Derek. “Exploitation in College Sports: Race, Revenue, and Educational
Reward.” International Review for the Sociology of Sport, vol. 48, no. 5, SAGE
Publications, Oct. 2013, pp. 550–71, doi:10.1177/1012690212450218.

The term surplus value is a relevant theme in this article. (pg 554)

Surplus value is described by : “In this sense, human labor has an economic value.
Compensation, however, is often less than the total worth of a worker’s labor, usually
equivalent to the worker’s means of subsistence. The remaining portion above and
beyond this subsistence is considered surplus labor and the value it produces is
surplus value.” In other words it is the value of uncompensated work.  With this, comes
the term commodification, in which labor results in a physical product, such as a shirt or
a pair of shoes. With this, a product has tangible value with a physical price tag. The question
at hand now, is whether or not athletic talent and achievement is a commodity.

The article discusses how “he athlete’s achievement is transformed into a commodity and is
exchanged on the market for its equivalent value, expressed in money, the athlete’s
achievement is transformed into a commodity and is exchanged on the market for its equivalent
value, expressed in money.” In other words, a worker who creates a product can sell their
product for money as a transaction should be the same as an athlete who spends 30-40
hours a week training for a game and still being a full time matriculating student.  This leads
to the economic idea of marginal revenue product, defined as “ the change in total revenue
resulting from a unit change in a variable input, keeping all other inputs unchanged.” In other
words, if an athlete produces either $700,000 a year they deserve to be compensated
$700,000 a year, and if they produce $700 a year, then that is how much they should get. 

(This i do not agree within that, I believe the school does deserve a percentage of some
sort in that they are providing the facilities, the stadium, the athletic trainers that also come
with a sports team. I would like to find a counter-argument that includes this)

The example provided in the article is one from Stanford University, in which the team
acquired a “star player” that increased the revenue of the team but over $200,000 (due to
increase ticket sales and merchandise), however was only compensated about $20,000
(the cost of tuition). Another example is athlete Cam Newton who was estimated to have
earned Auburn University around 3.5 million dollars and was only reimbursed for his athletic
scholarship, price tagged at about $200,000. The argument here is that, this is essentially
robbery. (557)

2. Black males and intercollegiate athletics : an exploration of problems and solutions (book
by Benneth, Robert A.) pg 122-151

Black Male student-athletes on Predominantly White College and University Campuses

• Samuel R. Hodge

Benneth, Robert A., and Ryan P. Adserias. Black Males and Intercollegiate Athletics : an
Exploration of Problems and Solutions . Emerald, 2015.

This source provides historical backgrounds on minority groups attending “white universities.”
During the Civil Rights era, schools were segregated between White and Black students. It
was seen that in these predominantly Black Universities, there was a large emphasis on
competitive sports teams, many of which, comprised of average to elite level student-athletes.
However, with the increase of racial integration over the past 50 years, most Black student
athletes now mostly attend previously “White” universities with the top tier athletic teams and
NCAA Division 1 affiliation. 

“The journey of highly talented Black student-athletes from the campuses of HBCUs (historically
black colleges and universities) is attributable to many of them deciding to join top-tier athletic
programs at majority White colleges and universities with National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA) Division I affiliation.”

With this, studies have revealed black male student-athletes “have both positive and
negative experiences on predominantly White college and university campuses” that differ
greatly from their White teammates. 

Ideas in the article 

1. It is seen that white americans are more inclined to participate in “more expensive” sports due to greater financial resources and opportunities, examples include hockey, tennis, golf
1. “Historically, such factors influenced Black individuals’ decisions to participate in more culturally relevant and affordable sports such as basketball, boxing, football, and track, as opposed to less affordable sports such as golf and tennis”
2. This article also connects back to the first article on Black athletes tending to feel exploited. (probably will not use this quote as the previous article goes very in-depth on this point)
1. Black student-athletes at a predominantly White college disclosed they felt isolated, rejected, unfairly judged by coaches and the campus community, and they developed mistrust of their peers.
3. However, this article also discusses the positive treatment that comes out of it. They talk about three themes. In some cases these sports teams gave them both a sense of self, community, and importance. It gave them a place to fit in and also make their families proud of their accomplishments. 
1. First, the theme complex identities exposes how the student-athletes “constantly negotiate the significance of identities and attempt to understand the intricacies of what being an athlete and being Black means to them in relation to the broader contexts of college sport culture” . Second, the theme community “was given meaning by the student-athletes as important to compelling them academically and athletically.” Third, the theme of liberation “captures the belief of self-empowerment through academic achievement.”
2.  An important sentiment articulated by the Black student-athletes was “if they could do well academically, more so than athletically, they might change other’s [negative stereotypic race and sport-based] beliefs, thus giving themselves the ability to overcome other’s stereotypic perceptions”
4. Another problem they faced in the universities are stereotypes from their peers and faculty members. In other words, teachers were more likely to have much lower academic expectations
5.