College Athletic Admissions as a White Property Interest

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Reconsidering Issues of Equity in Intercollegiate Athletics at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly White Institutions

Abstract

In March 2019 fifty individuals were indicted in “Operation Varsity Blues” (OVB) the largest college admission conspiracy in U.S. history (Rosen et al., 2019). One facet of this conspiracy involved bribing university administrators and coaches to admit students with little-to-no sport experience as college athletes (Smith, 2019). The indictments and public coverage present the admission scandal as deviant actions by isolated individuals. This conceptual piece cautions against such a contrast. I apply Harris’ (1993) whiteness as property to empirical research on college sport access to argue that current athletic admissions practices reflect whiteness as modern property (Harris, 1993) and protect greater college access for white, elite communities.

Author

• Kirsten Hextrum, The University of Oklahoma