Kudos to the National Collegiate Athletics Association for considering a bylaw that would protect student athletes from losing their scholarships due to illness.
Amid the stress of rigorous academic and practice schedules, it is good to hear that the NCAA understands that some things are out of students' control. The previous scholarship policy, which ensured that schools could not take away an athlete's award if he or she was injured, was entirely too ambiguous. It failed to define what schools could or could not do if an illness, a pregnancy, an eating disorder or an addiction prevented an athlete from competing.
To that extent, the proposed NCAA regulation facilitates recovery. By giving athletes time to seek medical attention without the threat of financial penalty, the amendment encourages healthy lifestyles. Schools should be sure, however, not to allow athletes to use the new regulation as an excuse for reckless behavior. An addiction, for example, is a serious medical condition, but universities should not pamper students who refuse to address their dependencies and seek medical attention.
Moreover, the NCAA's proposed amendment sheds some light on a similar problem that affects all students. To be sure, athletes are not the only ones affected by illness; we all have a friend or two who has failed a course or worse because they were too sick to function. In that sense, perhaps the NCAA's decision should influence an AU policy that helps all students, not just athletes, recuperate from illness and make healthy choices free of financial constraints.
